I was in the Santa's Stocking show this past weekend. It is a holiday arts and crafts show and it was alot of fun as usual. I painted this poinsettia last year and I took it out for the show. It is certainly festive for the season.At Art of the Carolinas I took a portrait painting class with Suzanna Winton. It was a great class and it really has inspired me to start working on my portraits again. I really liked her as a person as well as a teacher. She is very down to earth and easy going. She presented the material very clearly, answered questions, gave encouragement and feedback as needed. The one thing I really liked about her is that she gave advise on how to do things and what colors to use but encouraged the students to find the best way for themselves. This is something I try to do in my classes. I believe it helps students to develop their own style. I understand that teachers can only teach from their own experience but I dislike being told that things need to be done the exact way the teacher says. Wouldn't doing things just like an instructor make you into an imitator of the art the teacher is presenting? How can you develop into an artist if you are simply reproducing someone elses paintings?
Today I have been working on the portrait we started in class and I have been in heaven. I think I am finding my new direction!
