Teaching A Workshop in Oakland

Sunday, when I arrived at my workshop 's location in Oakland I felt rather nervous when I saw a hearse parked out in front of the studio. When read the sign in the window and saw it was actually a hearse and pizza delivery vehicle I felt much better.
The workshop was organized for me my two wonderful bay area artists, Jill Russell, who makes mixed media masterpieces and teaches too, and Ann Austin, a fabulous acrylic painter. The workshop participants did really well and picked up the watercolor techniques very quickly. Our emphasis was on using as many recycled materials as we could to make an art studio small enough to be portable. We used the ubiquitous Altoid's tins, water bottle lids, Cheapjoes samples of American Journey paint and Luminart Shimmering Rain paints. As a teacher I was thrilled to see the class discover a passion for watercolor journaling.

Bay Area Workshop with Shimmering Rain Paints

This Saturday I was fortunate to be teaching an awesome group of women called the California Art Girls. They are a group of mixed media artists from the San Francisco Bay area. These women have amazing talent, spirit and curiosity. They welcome learning new techniques. I showed them how they could use the Luminart shimmering rain H2O paints for their journal paintings. They produced some very good paintings and shared lots of creative ideas.

If You Want To Be Creative Get Yourself A Desk

Sometimes the answer to our quest to be creative and artistic is really simpler then we think. My advice to everyone who wants to watercolor, draw or make artistic stuff is to get a desk you can call your own. Then this makes the next step much easier, pull up a chair, get a 2B Ticonderoga pencil (these are my favorites, but any pencil will do) and start scribbling. You must sit at your desk fairly often and give yourself permission to create less then perfect creations. Let me know how this works for you...

Boathouse Apartments for A Change

It was fun to paint these interesting boathouse apartments that I discovered on a street near Moonlight Beach. They were built in the late 1920's from wood from an old bathhouse by Miles Minor Kellogg, an inventor and builder, who liked to use salvaged materials.

Sunday Painter

Can you believe how messy my studio is? Who messed it up? Some gremlins must have snuck it and threw things around in the middle of the night.
I would like to clean it up but I am hard at work on a new project, a 2012 calendar. However, I did manage to sneak away from my Sunday painting for a walk at the beach...

Home Again and Bonding with the Family

After a trip it's always nice to bond again with family members. Least you think this post has nothing to do with art, it actually sort of does. Do you notice the new color of my daughter's hair? She surprised me with her new hair color when I returned home.

The Art of Shoe Shopping

As I observed the Paris fashion scene I saw many women were wearing the ballerina flats I had read about on the "Paris Breakfast Blog".
Shopping for my own pair of these flats (or anything else for that matter) is a great way to meet and chat with the local people who work in the small shops. I have discussed everything from America's elections to how to fit your jeans inside your boots without baggie wrinkles at your knees. Shoe sales people are helpful, kind and knowledgable in France. When I bought the espadrille shoes in the shop on the Mediteranian
I learned all about the Catalonia section of France, the unseasonably warm weather and about French fabrics and manufacturing.
So shoe shopping is a must for every trip and a diplomatic mission, of course.

Studio Painting After Your Trip

Travel painting doesn't have to end when you arrive home. Actually, you can extend your travel painting from a specific trip for many years (recently I painted an image from a photo I took in Japan 30 years ago.)
The first thing I do when I get home from a trip is stumble down to Ritz camera and edit and print out my favorite photos of things I saw on my trip that I thought might make good subjects for paintings. I printed about 60 photos this time. The reason I print the photos ASAP is because the reasons I was inspired by these images tend to fade in a short time.
I also lay out the paintings I did during my trip on my desk and make adjustments.
Lastly I unpack my flea market treasures and try to figure out where to put them in my house and what the heck I was thinking when I bought an old suitcase filled with porcelain dolls whose legs don't bend but came with a full set of clothes and their own eyeglasses.

Back Home

It's hard to believe that yesterday I woke up in Paris and last night I went to sleep in California.
It's hard to believe I was eating pastry in Paris yesterday and today I renewed my Weight Watchers membership, it's hard to believe I was discovering and photographing subject matter for paintings and now I am back home with a dog who is less then enthusiastic about my return. It's paradoxes like these that make life interesting.

Dream Big

Today was the last day of our visit to Paris. It was my day to wander up and down the streets and day dream about my future. Maybe I will be a painter living in a Garret with a closet full of ballerina flats....it's important for everyone to let their imagination go free and dream big.

Typical Tourist Photos...

So everyone has to take at least one photo of themselves in front of the Eiffel tower, so here is mine. We stopped by Sennelier, the art supply shop where I am certain Monet bought his paint. Frenchmen wearing white smocks wait on you and answer all your art supply questions. With my high school French and their beautifully accented English, I managed to purchase some wonderful ink fountain pens, then it was off to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly soaking up some artistic inspiration and a pair of shoes to bring home.

Train to Paris

Yesterday we had a coffee at the train statin then traveled by train through the French countryside for 7 hours arriving in Paris in the early evening. To pass the time on the train I practiced my French school children's cursive handwriting. The man in the seat across from me was working on his computer. It was a cross road or carrefour (my newest French word) moment in time. We tried to have dinner in Paris at a bistro on the corner near our hotel where I had the best roast chicken and potatoes au gratin i had ever tasted last year but it was closed Mondays. So we discovered another equally amazingly French restaurant close by. It satisfied all my charming French decorating needs. I wonder if Rick will let me paint our kitchen red and hang a gold chandelier? I am definitely going to add a chalkboard to our kitchen decor and write the meal I am serving on it every night.

Lisa Malone Shares Her Paintings

Lisa Malone from Memphis, Tennessee shares some of her artwork in today's post. Lisa works as a graphic designer and combines her knowledge of design with her fine art training in the beautiful paintings she did in France. Lisa mentioned that the scenery in the French countryside inspired her paintings and that she enjoyed the encouraging camaraderie of the other women in our workshop. I think she created dazzling paintings that are a joy to look at. Her excellent drawing skills and wonderful spontaneous painting technique give a sense of exuberance to her paintings. Lisa was a lovely person to have along on our trip and taught me a lot about graphic design as well as shopping and style.

Gail Ostendorf Shares Her Artwork

Gail Ostendorf is a returning student to my workshops. She attended my recent workshop in Tuscany. She shares her artwork in this post. She says,"It took me a few days to get into the subject matter in France, but once I got inspired by the rhythm of the workshop I began producing artwork I am very happy with."
As a teacher I was thrilled to watch Gail's painting skills develop and to see her paintings blossom with excellent use of color and composition and her own style emerge.

French Beauty Salon Day

Today 4 of us went to have our hair done by Eliane Fleury, the fabulous hairdresser who has a beauty salon in Durfort. Her shop is wonderfully decorated, French style and you relax the moment you are greeted by Elaine at the door to her salon. We all came home feeling like new women with a French flair and certainly relaxed after our shampoos and scalp massages

Day of French lingerie shopping, site seeing, food and beverages

Our day began with a pleasant 25 minute drive to Castres, where we viewed the sites and purchased some souvenirs at Etam, a wonderful lingerie shop, We discovered this delicious almond and apple tart waiting for us when we arrived home. The tart was baked by Nese, the amazing chef and yogini at LaCascade. On our errands to the bank and post office we discovered a small market and felt obliged to sample the local beverages. I will give a full report on these beverages in tomorrow's post.