Welcome November!
Whew! What a month October was! I felt like I was running from one thing to the next everyday, all month. Regular classes of course; some added classes for retirement residences; Charlie Spratt's workshop, which was a fabulous success; meetings; appointments, some unplanned such as an emergency trip to the dentist and then the dental surgeon; preparing for Art School Fair and my presentations there; and trying to squeeze in my bits and pieces of personal life into the mix too!
Well October's done now, and I must say I seem to have actually achieved quite a bit! Now I'm looking to slow down a little bit, catch up and settle back into some semblance of routine... oh yeah, right!
I do have a confirmed date, time and place for Denise Pelletier's Knife Painting Workshop, for those of you who have expressed an interest in attending. It will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2016, from 9 AM to 4 PM. The location is St Columba Church at 24 Sandridge Road in the Manor Park neighbourhood of Ottawa and the fee is $120. A materials list will be provided to students when they register, and registration is now open. Just contact me directly and I will do the rest.
Denise is a phenomenal teacher and makes the day a lot of fun while imparting her extensive knowledge through demonstrations, some really enjoyable exercises and then helping students with their own knife paintings. Students who have already taken the workshop often sign up again. Denise takes this into consideration when creating the workshop exercises, to offer new learning experiences for those returning students.
Whew! What a month October was! I felt like I was running from one thing to the next everyday, all month. Regular classes of course; some added classes for retirement residences; Charlie Spratt's workshop, which was a fabulous success; meetings; appointments, some unplanned such as an emergency trip to the dentist and then the dental surgeon; preparing for Art School Fair and my presentations there; and trying to squeeze in my bits and pieces of personal life into the mix too!
Well October's done now, and I must say I seem to have actually achieved quite a bit! Now I'm looking to slow down a little bit, catch up and settle back into some semblance of routine... oh yeah, right!
I do have a confirmed date, time and place for Denise Pelletier's Knife Painting Workshop, for those of you who have expressed an interest in attending. It will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2016, from 9 AM to 4 PM. The location is St Columba Church at 24 Sandridge Road in the Manor Park neighbourhood of Ottawa and the fee is $120. A materials list will be provided to students when they register, and registration is now open. Just contact me directly and I will do the rest.
Denise is a phenomenal teacher and makes the day a lot of fun while imparting her extensive knowledge through demonstrations, some really enjoyable exercises and then helping students with their own knife paintings. Students who have already taken the workshop often sign up again. Denise takes this into consideration when creating the workshop exercises, to offer new learning experiences for those returning students.
The very first Art School Fair http://www.artschoolfair.com/ has come and gone, and I have to say that I, and everyone I have talked to, chalked it up as a raging success... we want another one next year! Congratulations to David Lidbetter http://www.dlidbetter.com/home#.Vjqq7rerRII and Crystal Beshara http://crystalbeshara.com/, who organized it in such a professional manner. Congratulations to their team and all of the wonderful volunteers, teachers and exhibitors who did such a great job. This art conference is focussed on the student and the learning process of art. There were workshops, lectures and demonstrations, as well as opportunities to talk with reps from art material manufacturers and services as well as being able to purchase products. (Good thing because I left my Self Levelling Gel for my demo on Contemporary Acrylic Techniques and Processes, on my work bench in my studio! Whew!!)
So, October, overall, has been a prolific month as well as a very tiring one... but Win-Win all round!
Now that it's November... or rather "Movember", I would like to say to all you gentlemen participating in the Movember Movement https://ca.movember.com/, "You go guys! My hat's off to you all! Make a difference... because you can!"
Today's Painting Tip
This week my Acrylic and Oil class will be doing a thirty minute workout. I bring the subject matter and they have thirty minutes to cast it to canvas. It's a fun exercise that causes one to loosen up, by using large brushes and having a time constraint. I also like to show students how to use the shape of their brushes to quickly create the shapes and forms of their subject. Many students fear doing their first one, but once the thirty minutes is up they readily admit that they learned a lot from the exercise. It is also something that you can do at home by setting up something as simple as a potted plant, putting a timer on for 30 minutes and going for it! If you get it done in the 30 minutes then you need to cut the time shorter by 5 or 10 minutes for the next one. By the way, you will surprise yourself with what you can produce in this workout, which will give you greater confidence for future paintings. Give it a try and let me know how it worked out for you.
The final fossil paintings
After adjusting the final paintings by mixing up a sand and self levelling gel mixture, I applied it with a palette knife to soften the edges of the stencilled fossils, to give the suggestion that they have been burried in the sand over time. And finally, I used a permanent marker to create shadows around certain areas of the fossils and then signed them with a metallic gold pen. Here they are...
So, October, overall, has been a prolific month as well as a very tiring one... but Win-Win all round!
Now that it's November... or rather "Movember", I would like to say to all you gentlemen participating in the Movember Movement https://ca.movember.com/, "You go guys! My hat's off to you all! Make a difference... because you can!"
Today's Painting Tip
This week my Acrylic and Oil class will be doing a thirty minute workout. I bring the subject matter and they have thirty minutes to cast it to canvas. It's a fun exercise that causes one to loosen up, by using large brushes and having a time constraint. I also like to show students how to use the shape of their brushes to quickly create the shapes and forms of their subject. Many students fear doing their first one, but once the thirty minutes is up they readily admit that they learned a lot from the exercise. It is also something that you can do at home by setting up something as simple as a potted plant, putting a timer on for 30 minutes and going for it! If you get it done in the 30 minutes then you need to cut the time shorter by 5 or 10 minutes for the next one. By the way, you will surprise yourself with what you can produce in this workout, which will give you greater confidence for future paintings. Give it a try and let me know how it worked out for you.
The final fossil paintings
After adjusting the final paintings by mixing up a sand and self levelling gel mixture, I applied it with a palette knife to soften the edges of the stencilled fossils, to give the suggestion that they have been burried in the sand over time. And finally, I used a permanent marker to create shadows around certain areas of the fossils and then signed them with a metallic gold pen. Here they are...
Next week I'm starting on a painting using appliquéd acrylic leaves which will be applied to a canvas background. It will be a lot of fun and I hope you will follow along through the process. It is the process of creating a painting such as the ones below.
Best wishes,
Susan
Best wishes,
Susan
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