Hosting a Workshop

I absolutely love hosting and facilitating painting workshops.

A few years ago, as part of our Island Arts Magazine services, we decided to start hosting workshops. How hard could it be?

There actually is a lot of planning that goes into these events. Researching and tracking down instructors is the main issue, as some of them are booking two years in advance. We try to bring in instructors from outside our area (mid-island) on Vancouver Island. We have to confirm dates, making sure that the venue is available. Next intensive marketing comes into play. Once the registrations start coming in and the day arrives, the FUN begins.

Our March 2016 workshop was called "Flowering as an Artist" instructed by Sandy Terry, an artist from Victoria. How refreshing to paint flowers in the spring.

We limit our class size to 12 students (11 actually as the 12th spot is mine). We had a lovely group of ladies for this class.

Most of our classes run for two days on a weekend. On the morning of the first day the students are anxious to get some instruction and start putting colour to canvas. By the end of the first day, they began to tucker out. "More coffee ladies?"

I like to position myself at the back of the classroom, and watch the canvases blossom. I enjoy the chatter amongst the students, as they paint, converse, laugh and sometimes even swear – for the good of the painting of course.

After a hard day of painting, on Saturday we like to gather at the local restaurant for a bite to eat, a refreshment or two and a chance to get to know each other outside the classroom. The artists love this part of the weekend.

In this class I worked on a tiger lily and was happy to see it come to life. I was able to take it home after the weekend, and finish it off with a few more brush strokes. All signed it is now ready for my Saskatchewan exhibition this summer.

Prairie Gift, 28 x 22", acrylic on canvas

As the host of these events, I am usually exhausted on Monday. But, I love doing them, I love spending the weekend with my fellow artists and I look forward to the next workshop in a month.

Oh dear!

Till Next Time ...

From the Prairies, to the West Coast and Beyond...

Susan

5 Reasons Why You Should get your Coffee ready in the Evening

If you are like me, you absolutely LOVE your morning coffee.

After dinner, my mother always gets her coffee pot ready for the next morning. She pours the water in and measures the coffee. Then she carefully places it in position, ready to push the button early in the morning. I often wondered why?

1) If you do it in the morning you might pour water all over the counter top as the coffee pot overflows. Your hand is shaky and weak from lack of caffeine.

2) You might forget to add the coffee (yes I have done it), which makes for very weak coffee.

3) The container holding the coffee grinds often gets lost, as you sleepily put it in the wrong cupboard with the peanut butter or in the fridge with the milk.

4) Coffee grounds always end up getting spilled over the counter as my hand is shaky and too weak from lack of caffeine (see item # 1).

5) You'll have a better night's sleep knowing that all you have to do in the morning is REMEMBER to push the button.

As usual, mother knows best! 

Till Next Time ...

From the Prairies, to the West Coast and Beyond...

Susan

Working from Photographs

On my trip to New Mexico last year I took two cameras with me. I didn't want to risk having one camera conk out. I took hundreds of photos, not wanting to miss anything. When I am in the mood to 'paint New Mexico', the hardest problem is deciding what image to use. I can spend hours going through the photos, happily drifting back into time.

Although I usually work from photos as a reference, at some point the painterly muse takes over. Below are samples of my paintings, with the reference image on the left and the finished piece on the right.

 

 "Colours of Santa Fe", 8 x 8"

The photo was taken on Canyon Road, known for its hundreds of galleries. The streets are lined with warm colours, turquoise painted windows and doors and mucho big potted flowers.

 

"Taos Pueblo Traditions", 8 x 8"

A tour of the Taos Pueblos was, for me, one of the highlights of the trip. I was drawn to the simplicity of the lines of this design. In the end, I felt it needed a bit more colour, thus I added some strokes of grass in the foreground plus a design in the window curtain.

 

"Santa Fe Gallery", 8 x 8"

The curves and colours of the adobe buildings was so inviting, and what I would call the real New Mexico. One could imagine walking through the door and finding a lovely garden studio gallery.

Dreaming of New Mexico ....

Till Next Time ...

From the Prairies, to the West Coast and Beyond...

Susan

2 Weeks - 14 Paintings

This past fall as a way to capture the beauty of my gardens, I decided to give myself a challenge: a painting a day for two weeks.

The challenge was this: to do a painting each day, to paint quickly and not to fuss over details. Sometimes a person tends to over work a painting, which often leads to undesirable results (or as we say, mud). 

When painting quickly, you must make fast decisions, and execute them faithfully.
Here are the results of my two week challenge.

2 weeks - 14 paintings	Sunflower
Brown Eyed Susan	Pears from our Tree
Mr. Pepper	Hibiscus in Vase
So Gladiola	Bloomin' Calendula
Fall Cololurs	Apple Pie Anyone
Grape Vine	Maple Leaf
Bella Dona	Cosmos
Hibiscus	Each Painting Acrylic on  Canvas Board 8 x 10" $99.

I encourage you to try this exercise, even if only for a week.

Till Next Time ...

From the Prairies, to the West Coast and Beyond...

Susan

The Poppy Dance

What is it about painting poppies?

I have painted many poppies over the years - some in watercolour and acrylic. I love painting them and always find a similar thing happens.

I start out with a regimented design in mind - BUT somewhere through the process the poppies take control and start their dance.

This is how I started my most recent poppy painting. I did my drawing - carefully laying out all my shapes, thinking about the design. I slowly started colouring in some of the shapes.

Somewhere along the process, the painting had it's own plan...brush loads of luscious wet paint were dragged across the canvas. Shapes within shapes were formed.

I found myself drawn into the painting more and more...as I went back many times "just to add another stroke or two'. I had to pull myself away before it was too late.

Here is the result...14 x 18", acrylic on canvas - looking for a title.

Till Next Time ...

From the Prairies, to the West Coast and Beyond...

Susan

Yellow Rose

Started months ago ... recently completed.

I planted a climbing rose this past spring, and was thrilled that it did so well after only a few months. It trails along the fence and consistently rewards us with many beautiful blossoms. It was still blooming up until a few weeks ago when we had our first snowfall.

Sometimes I get all excited about a painting, work on it for awhile, then ... come to a screeching stop, as I hit a brick wall.

At that point I will often put it away for awhile. Whenever you find yourself stuck...take a break, stop thinking about it and when you begin again it will be like looking at it with fresh eyes.

acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14"

Till Next Time ...

From the Prairies, to the West Coast and Beyond...

Susan

Hot Off the Palette

This is a painting that I started several weeks ago after interviewing Mark Hobson for the upcoming Island Arts Magazine.

Mark often starts his painting with a dark dioxine purple ground. I thought, "Hmmm, I have some purple in my studio. Maybe I can paint like Mark!"

This was the perfect subject to work with as the clematis itself was made up of different tones of purple.

I am glad that I managed to take several photographs to work from before the heat wave hit and the petals dropped off.

The finished piece is 8 x 24", acrylic. It still remains unnamed, although I sometimes call it the "Climber".

Till Next Time ...

"From the Prairies, to the West Coast ... and beyond!"

Susan