DEMO FOR CALIFORNIA WATERCOLOR ASSOCIATION

I have been conducting a portrait workshop this week for the California Watercolor Association.  I have a wonderful slide show to share of some of the work that is being created.  I will post it tomorrow night.  Wednesday was the monthly meeting and I was the guest demonstrator.  A little challenging after standing all day teaching but after a lovely dinner, and a little wine, I was ready to share my love of Tyvek Paper and Dr. Ph Martin's liquid HYDRUS watercolors.  I arrived at the meeting to discover that the technical person who opperates the video camera and other equipment had failed to show.   To compilcate matters, there was no overhead mirror because the usual proceedure is to project what the artist is doing onto a big center screen.  The solution to work at an upright easel so others could see was out of the question because of the slick nature of the Tyvek paper.....all the paint would slide right off!  We finally decided that the best solution was to put the painting table in the middle of the room and have all the chairs circling me with the first rows seated and others standing.  I stopped a few times to let people circulate, come up close to see what I was doing and change positions in the room for a different view.  Having been a sketch artist at outdoor shows, I was used to people gathering round to watch what I am doing.  We had a nice question and answer session while I was painting.   As we have all found our selves in challenging situations when things didn't fall into place the way we had planned, everyone was undestanding and gracious and hopefully enjoyed the evening.  I was concerned that people would go away disappointed that they had made the effort to come to the meeting and couldn't see the demo well enough.  Checking with a few insiders this morning, I was told everyone had a great time and enjoyed the evening.  

This is a portrait of David Levine, one of America's great artists.  He passed away this year.  I don't know how wonderful of a likeness I achieved, but I like his face and love his work.  I am fortunate to own a book about his life and art called The Arts of David Levine published in 1978.  

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE...HELP ME DECIDE!

I received the prospectus for the National competition sponsored by California Watercolor Society.  Christopher Schink is going to be the juror.  I was debating which of these two paintings I would send in for my entry.  I thought it might be fun to see what you think would be the stronger of the two entries.  If you would like to express your opinion, you can vote on the poll I created to the right." CWA is one of the few shows that allows collage but it has to be painted material.  All my collage paper is hand painted (no magazine or preprinted material).  If you would like to enter a painting of your own, you can download a prospectus from their website.  www.californiawatercolorwww.californiawatercolor.org 

I was very excited to book a "Variations: One Image, Unlimited Possibilities" workshop for October, 2011 in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the Hot Springs Gallery.  The area is gorgeous and the facility looks wonderful.  Vanessa Segraves has a big line up of great artists this year (including Katharine Cartwright) and I am very privileged to participate next year.  I will be posting it on my website as soon as I get a chance.  In the meantime, you can see more about this wonderful venue by going to : www.hotspringsgallery.com.  I have only 3 more spots available for workshops next year.  If you know of a group looking for a workshop, let them know.

"HATFUL OF DREAMS"

This week John Salminen is in San Francisco. He judged the CWA National Show on Sunday and is giving a workshop this week. I wasn't able to take the workshop but plan to go to the California Watercolor Society Meeting tomorrow night for his demonstration. I have no idea what he will demo as his famous style is waaaaay to complicated to do anything in less than 2 hours. The painting "Hatful of Dreams" was the first painting I got into a national show and it was CWA! It was done in the saturated wet technique. This is my youngest son in his Halloween costume (minus the painted on mustache) when he was about 5. He will be 40 in April. Makes me want to cry when I think how fast the time has flown by. He still is very cute!