This past weekend I held my very first Painting Workshop/Retreat.
I am calling it a workshop/retreat because I wanted it to be both. It turned out to be the right thing I think. We had a wonderful time up at our family home in the Lake Tahoe area. It is located in beautiful Tahoe Donner outside of Lake Tahoe, very close to Donner Lake.
It houses 8 or 10 people very comfortably so I invited my students/friends to join me. We drove up Thursday afternoon, shared our first dinner together and settled in. After that we got our jammies on and watched "The Impressionists". Wonderful movie!
Next morning we took a drive a few miles along the Truckee River toward the big lake on hwy 89 and painted at the River Ranch Lodge and Restaurant. They were very nice to allow us to use their patio with an amazing view.
I did a very quick demonstration of a simple composition for the students. A couple of the ladies have painted in plein air before, but some had never painted outside. We had a blast. The weather was perfect!
Below are a couple of the student pieces
Amazing!
Saturday we stayed in and did a couple of exercises to help the painter succeed. The first one was a color mixing exercise. This was very eye opening for everybody, including myself.
After lunch we did another really fun exercise that was equally enlightening. I borrowed this exercise from Peggy Kroll Roberts. We counted our brushstrokes with a limit of 35 to 40. I was amazed at how the paintings came out, and of course, we all learned a lot - including the surprise element of how beautiful brushwork can be when you load up the brush and limit your strokes. No more "licking" the canvas or overworking the strokes.
Well, I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed being with these women. Yesterday morning we went for a wonderful hike and then packed it up. I can't wait to do it again!
Now it's time to get back to work. I have many unfinished projects and paintings to finish. Hopefully if I'm successful you will see some new work up on the blog soon.
Happy Painting!
