Thursday, July 18, 2013

Travels, Remembered and Recent

Morning Light, Les Murets, 20 x 16

Dimanche, Paris, 16 x 20

Last Saturday evening, Huff Harrington Fine Art (in Atlanta) hosted their 8th annual Bastille Day festivities, with French-inspired paintings from gallery artists and from painters who have gone to Provence with either Bill Davidson or me!  What a cool show -- many of my fellow travelers sold their provencal pieces last weekend - just lovely paintings, soulful and true.  Above are a couple of mine, memories of Provence and of Paris, which found happy homes as well.  Love the Huff Harrington vibe and the buzz they create in that oh-so-french way! 

Recent travels below:

Late Light, Maine, 12 x 9



Before the Rain, Maine, 12 x 12



Shiny Morning, Maine, 11 x 14

My friend Dianne invited me to join her at a wonderful place - Rock Gardens Inn, Sebasco Estates, Maine - for an artist's retreat week last week.  I loved it!  The light, the simple cottages (the three nice meals each day :-) - truly a new experience for me.

Oh, and I am having a petite workshop on Sunday, August 18th at Huff Harrington from 9 - 4, painting children or the figure from photos... Fun and Lunch included - price is $ 195.   Call Linda at HH (404) 257-0511 for a spot if you are interested!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Cure for the Summer Swoon







Demo in progress, 1st day, Dahlonega, June 2013



Demo, Hydrangeas, 12 x 12


Demo, Pears, 8 x 16



Simple cure for my annual summer swoon, or the onset of the blahs - (perhaps due to high humidity, heat, desire to go swimming and veg out, i.e. anything to stay out of the studio):

1.  Drive up to Dahlonega, Georgia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
2.  Arrive at Anita Elder's beautiful property and workshop site, the "Art Loft."
3.  Meet 12 fellow artists, all eager to paint and try new things
4.  Mix in wonderful gourmet lunches prepared by Anita, a bit of wine, and fun outdoor dinners!

VOILA -  inspiration returns, mind is calm and happy, paintings will flow, I know!



Great times last week with some wonderful fellow travelers on this art path, truly a special and inspiring two days for all.  We focused on simplifying subject matter, capturing the feeling or gesture of the subject, and on communicating it in the fewest strokes possible.  Inspired by a recent Robert Genn post on one of his workshop exercises to help painters "loosen up," we attempted paintings in 37 strokes or 30 minutes.  Mine, below was 45 (not 37) strokes -- ay yi yi!



Norma did a better job of hers in 45 strokes:




So many nice paintings were created; alas, I have very few photos, but below are some I did get:

Norma Hulsey


Dianne Williams


Gina Brown


Set Up of hydrangeas from Donna's garden


Also, check out Gina Brown's new blog post on our workshop - I just saw it today, and was  pleased to read her kind words at http://ginabrownart.blogspot.com/2013/06/je-ne-sais-quoi-and-nancy-franke.html.