Painting: The Spirit of Drawing

My friend Steph and I recently returned from a four-day workshop at Sitka Center For Art and Ecology at the Oregon coast where we took a class from William Park, a talented Portland artist.

It begins.

We spent most of the first day playing with charcoal, black ink, and white paint.

Stephanie had fun tucked in her corner of the studio.

We finally got to add some color (and then beat it back).

During the process of creating a problem to solve, or some alarm to react to, I stumbled upon a new process that I'm pretty excited about. I'll continue my explorations with these textured grids when I'm back in my studio at home. It started with my creating a serene landscape, then my covering over it with black paint (It was a vicious attack on a helpless canvas, according to Stephanie who witnessed my brutality), finally, creating rows of grids using my palette knife. Of course, I was having so much fun, that I covered a piece of 22x30 paper and another canvas, even bigger than the first! The canvases were 24 x36 and 24 x 47, in case you were curious.

Along the way, Bill did lots of demos.

We held our critique on the third day rather than on the last day so if anyone wanted to use the feedback they got they could do so before the final hour.

A parting shot with Bill. .

It seems only fitting to have a photo with my dear friend Steph.

Post Scripts

# 1
Steph and I made it down to the beach one day after class.

#2
After saying goodbye to Steph and watching her drive away, I attempted to do the same. However, our hybrid's electrical system decided to shut down and I ended up waving good bye to my car.

#3
My husband came to the rescue. We headed into Lincoln City and got a comfy room right on the beach.

#4
We shot some pool while we waited for our Humble Pie pizza to be ready.

#5
Car was ready in the morning.

Abstract Oil Painting: What a Thrill!

I'm home from four days of bliss. I just took my first formal oil painting class and it was the perfect class for me. It was with Allen Cox at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology on the Oregon coast. It was perfect because Allen is so easy-going, I love his art, and he is an excellent teacher, giving each student one-on-one personal attention. There were only eight of us in the class (an unexpected treat), so lots of opportunities for personal attention. Here I am with the Fantastic Mr. Cox.

Enough chitter chatter. I know you just want to see photos, so here's my week in a semi-organized way.

That was a nice little general look at the class. Now for some progression photos. We were each asked to bring three panels, 16 x 20. Here is substrate No. 1.

My reincarnated several times, atmospheric, unfinished piece.

And then the crosses.

Because I only brought three canvases to work on, I was looking around for more, but being in the woods and without a car, my options were pretty limited. So I raided the wood pile from the cabin where I was staying. I primed the boards, tossed on a little plaster to see how it interacted with the oil and wax concoction, and BOOM! Eight little pieces of art emerged over the course of four days. I call this series FROM THE WOOD PILE

As I left Sitka yesterday, I was blessed to see this doe with her two fawns. An appropriate ending to a great week.

My week's work: