Yesterday, Wednesday is class day at the S12 Studio in Sacramento. I teach 5 students on a weekly basis. These artists inspire me! I think I learn more than they do because I repeat the fundamentals over and over. I painted this demo yesterday from a photo I took on my kitchen table a couple of years ago. These sunflowers were sooooo red. I bought them at Trader Joe's. I loved the light coming in the window, it was bouncing all over the place! I don't know if I can capture it, but I will try to finish this painting soon and then post it again.

It needs some shadow in the bottom area, a balance in color relationships throughout and some areas to rest the eye. I have to be careful not to make all the flowers the star and keep the focal point on the largest flower. I can do this by creating more color contrast in that area, more edges and the lightest light next to the darkest dark. Then I will need to pay attention to the other areas and soften those edges and keep the chroma more subtle.

Finally, I am getting my studio at home set up. Since our family move about 6 weeks ago, I have been busy with workshops and also with painting for the 50-50 show. Yesterday I took the paintings to the gallery. Whew! Now I can get organized enough to paint in the home studio.

Be sure to let me know if you can come to the artists VIP reception Thursday April 9th at 5:00 PM. I'd love to hear from you and you are sure to enjoy all these little paintings. It is quite an experience. Go to www.20art.net for the address at 20th Street Gallery in Midtown, Sac. RSVP at ranblaz@hotmail.com

Napa Workshop Experience

Saturday we painted all day at the Mondavi Vineyards. It was beautiful and atmospheric, but chilly and a little wet. I found it very inspiring. I took a lot of photos and painted two paintings. I'll try to get them photographed and posted.
Sunday was more of the same, but a little warmer and we were at the hillside winery of Diamond Oaks. WOW! Terry painted another amazing demo and lectured all about painting the atmosphere.
I have to say that this experience was wonderful and I learned a lot. I haven't been out plein air painting in a long time, and because of that it was more challenging than it should have been. But it was exactly what I needed and as far as workshops go, very well done. Bravo to Terry Miura and Alan and Leslie Baribeault who put it together. Be sure to read Terry's post on his blog, you can click the link and go right to it.
More soon. Randy

Terry Miura Workshop Day One

Napa was beautiful today, perfect weather. We met at the Etude Winery in the afternoon for a plein air demonstration by Terry Miura. I have to say that this workshop is very well put together and Terry is a wonderful teacher. He is so good at explaining his technique and is very generous with sharing his knowledge and experience. A gifted instructor. What he chose to paint was not the easiest, but he pulled it off beautifully. The most important point to remember? Write down your reason for choosing your subject before you start to paint! Essential! Otherwise it is easy to be lead astray and forget your focal point. It is all about that.
He shared all of the foundational information but also gave us plenty of subtle tips that he has learned to rely on over the years. This was very helpful. One thing that I have forgotten to do lately is to use my gray mixture to control the chroma or intensity of the color. Very good stuff.
Tomorrow? Mondavi Vineyards. Can't wait.

Boat Reflections

Only a few more days of painting Monet's Garden. I will deliver them to 20th Street Gallery in Sacramento next week, but am leaving for Napa this week so I'm finishing a bit early. I am taking a workshop with Terry Miura. Check him out at the link on the blog. I met Terry in downtown Sacramento a couple of years ago at his studio on 12th street. He doesn't teach there anymore, but is putting on a plein air workshop in Napa this week. Very wonderful painter. I'm looking forward to the vineyards, the mustard and hopefully some nice weather. I will be sure to post all about it.

Also, I am currently taking a workshop with Don Hatfield in Sac. He paints beautiful romantic figures in the landscape. We are studying from live models in the studio. As it turns out he spent years studying with Sergei Bongart and Dan McCaw, my favorites! Working with Don is exactly what I need, painting from live models. I will be sure to post more about this workshop as well. Meanwhile, I will post a link to his website.

The Water Garden

In 1893 Monet designed his pond with the idea of adding a new element to his flower garden. He yearned for winding paths with curves bridges with arches that would take you through the circular beds and water lilies. This is what he painted in the later years of life. He imported many different kinds of lilies and cultivated them in the pond, producing many colors. The light and reflections created endless effects that he was compelled to paint.

In the early years of Monet's garden, before the pond and water lilies, the "grande allee" was the walkway to Monet's front door. It is still there today, but in Monet's years at his home in Giverny it went through many transformations. The arches support the climbing roses while the nasturtiums grow into the path.

Everyday?? Another one for the 50 50 Show

I've been talking with my students about painting on a regular basis. Everyday? Well, maybe. At least we can begin to think about how to make an effort. Why? I couldn't explain it better that Clint Watson did on his blog in 2006. I am also a fan of Kevin Mcpherson and have his books. In them he talks about painting small, everyday.

READ CLINT'S BLOG BELOW:

Creativity begets Creativity So Get Small for Erfahrung
by Clint Watson on 8/9/2006

In the art production game, continuous practice and improvement is essential to growth, particularly if youre looking for rapid growth. Along comes Robert Genn of The Painter's Keys, "We're all familiar with the problems associated with Sunday Painters. Cranking up the old machine once a week may be okay in the vintage car hobby--but it's bad news in the creativity game. The steady worker who applies his craft daily is more likely to make creative gains than an intermittent one." If this law of creativity werent true we could all just recline by the pool for four days a week and go to work on Friday and complete our responsibilities with a great blast of productivity. But life doesnt work that way and trying to work against the natural law of creativity would make as much sense as passing a resolution to skip winter. While were at it, why dont we just make life easier for all those scientists and just round off pi to the next whole number?Unfortunately, practicing our craft daily can be quite a challenge. Real life intervenes for so many of us. I think for those who are serious about making strides in their art (which probably includes everyone reading this newsletter), the old adage is true, Practice makes perfect. The good news is that a little bit of practice will go a long way. If you're currently a weekend warrior, find ways to hone your craft at least A LITTLE BIT during the week. Perhaps it's just a sketch pad during your lunch hour...perhaps just a 30 minute study. Creativity begets more creativity so it's critical to keep your mind in the zone.In painting, experience can be looked upon as a function of the number of paintings an artist has created. In effect, the more paintings youve done, the more experienced you are. Kevin Macpherson recommends working small as a way to gain experience rapidly. He writes in his book, Fill You Oil Paintings with Light and Color, When you step up to a small canvas to try something new every day rather than working and reworking a large painting for weeks, you see progress. You learn to master techniques such as brushwork and texture, which boosts your confidence. Painting on a small scale also forces you to ignore inconsequential details and look for larger shapes, broader color relationships and overall composition. It gives you the ability to look at a scene as a whole. He further recommends committing to paint 100 small paintings as a means to rapid growth.Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light and Color by Kevin Macpherson:http://www.kevinmacpherson.com/When you get in the creative zone more often, you strengthen the neural pathways that allow you to be creative, thus making it easier to be even MORE creative. Its sort of like developing a habit to be creative.

Nietzsche identified two different kinds of knowledge. On the one hand you have the things you know from personal experiences and from personal observation, which he called erfahrung. There are also the abstractions you think you know - the kinds of things that you read about in art books and from viewing the works of others - which he called "wissen."Although wissen teaches us ideas in the intellectual realm, experience based knowledge; erfahrung catapults us up the growth curve so much faster. Trying to become a better painter through wissen alone would be like spending your Sunday watching home improvement television instead of just fixing that leaking faucet.Now that Ive given you a bit of wissen on the subject, get out there and get some erahrung! And dont forget to get small.Thats my view, post a comment to send me yours.Sincerely,Clint WatsonSoftware Craftsman and Art FanaticPS: "No one can draw more out of things, books included, than he already knows. A man has no ears for that to which experience has given him no access." (Friedrich Nietzsche)

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Another Day Another Garden Painting

A good day teaching, a good morning painting. You can't hardly ask for more than that!

What's more? I dropped off my new embellished prints to a new gallery for me, "Hang It Up", in the Town Center in El Dorado Hills. Even though no originals in the gallery yet, I'm glad to have my "foot" in the door. Hopefully it will go well and Dave "owner" will want more paintngs. Ya never know.

Stop by if you'd like to take a look, it's a wonderful gallery with many good artists represented. Open everyday.

www.hangitupgallery.com

cheers!

Plugging Away

Yup, I'm still at it. Today was fairly productive. I'm posting a couple of paintings for the 50 50 show. I need to finish up a few days early because I'll be joining Terry Miura for his workshop in Napa on the weekend of the 20th. We turn in our paintings to the gallery on the 25th.

Terry used to own the studios at S12. He is an amazing plein air painter and will be teaching a group of us this month. I'm looking forward to the beautiful landscapes in the wine country. When I return from the trip I hope to have some new ideas for larger pieces.

Stay tuned, it's turning to Spring in Monet's garden and I'm in the mood for flowers.

Here is my painting for today

An Exciting Year

This will be an exceptional year. It's fate I guess. I didn't plan to do 4 workshops before the end of July, but, well?

Joe, (my adult son who is discovering himself as an artist) is working with Steve Memering in his workshops and I decided to take the workshop with him. It was really nice to spend time doing something we love together. He didn't even seem to mind having "old Mom" around. It was altogether a wonderful experience for all. I met a nice gal from the bay area and we ended up having lunch and she told me all about Monet's Garden.

Monet's garden? Yes, it seems to be the subject of my paintings and my heart these days. I started my first one last summer, and haven't stopped. (We artist types seem to get stuck on something and paint it until it looses it's appeal.) Anyway, as you may know, this is what I'm painting for the 50 50 show this year. (A can't miss in April - read more at www.20art.net ) What's more, I'm actually visiting Monet's Garden when I go on my trip to France in July- so like I said before, fate?

The trip to France started in my head about 4 years ago when I started working with Brigitte Curt in Palo Alto. She's a wonderful french lady painter and she takes a workshop to Provence each year. I finally have the money to go, and then I found out that it's only a 50 mile bus or train trip to the gardens from Paris. I plan to spend some time their before the workshop. I can't wait to tell you all about it.

50 Paintings in 50 Days

This year 20th Street Art Gallery in Sacramento will feature their 3rd Annual "50-50 Show". This will also be my third year participating. Lucky me. I have very much enjoyed this exercise, and have learned from it. I can't tell you how nice it is to work with this gallery again this year. Jim and Joan Ferry are genuin art lovers who truly support the art community in Sacramento. Check out their website at http://www.20art.net/

I will begin posting my daily paintings as I am about half way into the 50 days. Stay tuned for more info about the show and reception in April, 2009.