Santas Stocking and Suzanna Winton

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!

Art of the Carolinas

I went to Art of the Carolinas this past weekend and it was wonderful. I always want to go to Art Workshops but I usually do not have the time, the money or the company to go with. This time me and three friends went for a very short weekend. (We left Saturday morning and came home Sunday evening.) We walked around with our eyes wide open; we were in awe of everything around us. We checked everything out, shopped, took classes, talked about everything, ate too much, and laughed so much. It was really alot of fun. I just want to thank Joyce, Cherrie and Patti for making the weekend one to remember. You were the best!

I woke up today and told myself that I'm going to only do what I want today. I decided to paint, of cource, and doors just kept opening up for me.

It's funny how sometimes I go through uninspired times with my painting. When I just can't get enthusiastic about anything. When I do not know what direction I'm going in. As a Libra, when trying to make decisions I have to weigh both sides. There is nothing wrong with that except I keep going back and forth and cannot make and easy decision. As an artist I want to learn and do everything. I want to explore all possibilities. I want to do it all. But as I grow, let's say more mature, I know I do not have all the time in the world to do everything I want to. So the decision of which direction I need to go in becomes a little more important.

Then there are other times in my artistic journey that I experience an abundance of inspiration flowing through me. I experienced this when I sat down to start painting this morning. All these new ideas of paintings came flooding in. I know that I cannot do them all right now but it is enlightening to have such an experience.

So I have come through another uninspired period in my life and I am on the verge of unleashing my creativity. And I am thankful to Art of the Carolinas for being a catalyst for this part of my journey.

Crimson Berries

This is my other painting of autumn leaves. They are so bright and cheerful. They remind me of fall in New York when all the beautiful colors of autumn fill the world. Unfortunately I did not get to visit NY this fall but maybe next year.

I have been struggling mentally about what direction I need to go in with my painting. Currently I am taking the Life Drawing session and spending most of my time teaching. I feel that I am learning alot in the Life Drawing group that will benefit me in whatever direction I end up going in. But I do not have any strong pull in one direction or another and the more I think about it the more complicated it gets. Of course thinking about it is probably not the way I will find my answer.

I am very excited that me and three special painting friends are going to Jerry's Artarama Artist Workshops in Raleigh NC for some painting classes next weekend. I am so looking forward to it. I'm sure it will be alot of fun and I hope to learn some new things. And maybe I'll be inspired as to which direction I need to go next.

Harvest Leaves

This is one of the paintings of leaves that I have been working on. I had done it previously in Colored pencils. It was one of those paintings that I framed and put in a show and it sold. So I did not get to spend too much time with it before it left me.

This time I did it in watercolors on Masa paper. I think the Masa paper gives the leaves a great texture. It was alot of fun to do.

I have been so busy lately. I'm on a full schedule of teaching and it's really going well. I really enjoy it when my students "get" something. It is a pleasure to watch the doors open for them and they find the way to make something happen. Being part of their learning is very satisfying and it is a wonderful experience for me too.