Free Demo this Saturday morning

FreeDemo, this Sat. morning at Michaels.
This Saturday morning I will be demonstrating what goes on at one of my Michaels Fine Arts Workshops. the free demo will be at Michaels Plymouth Meeting store (Conshohocken actually) from 10am till noon. Stop in and say hi if you can.
For more info and address of the store you can click the link above: "Michaels workshops"

It is definitely Fall today. The wind is kicking up a little and the temperature is cooler. If only those colorful leaves could stay on the trees a little longer!

Rock Crashers: Newest Seascape Painting for Michaels Painting Workshops

"Rock Crashers"

Inspired by a painting my mother painted years ago, this ocean's edge scene catches the forceful wave action against rocks at the shoreline.

I painted this in my search for a seascape scene for my Michaels Painting workshops. I submitted the lesson plan for this one and it was approved by Grumbacher for teaching in the Michaels Fine Arts Workshops. (The classes are sponsored by Grumbacher.)

Doesn't it make you miss summer already?

The techniques used to create this painting are actually quite easy simple to reproduce, once you know how.

Oh, those Fall colors! My camera knows when it is autumn, because I am always grabbing it to capture a fiery red tree or two!

I took a lot of pix on my way to and back from an ARTsisters' crit today. Crits (short for "critiques") are one of the many great benefits of being an ARTsister.It is totally voluntary; you come only if you want to come, and you can bring with you some current artwork on which you are looking for feedback. It's all about the art, and our growth as artists.
We view, explain, listen, criticize (constructively), recommend, question, laugh, and learn something new. What was that Jewish word I learned today? Shucks! I remember the meaning, but forgot the word! We were referring to a pitifully clueless type of person...
Any ARTsister reading this? (My memory isn't working too well today!)

 Anyway, it was great fun, and it helped me to clarify some things with which I was dealing, especially in regards to my recent Interactive Acrylic works on paper.

This evening's painting workshop subject: Floral at King of Prussia

It's college hunting time again... Today, my son and I visited Arcadia University. Nice campus. Cool castle!

This evening, we'll be doing a floral design at King of Prussia's painting workshop. If you want to join us, there's still room for more students. You can sign up at the store. Class starts at 630pm.

So much going on these days/. I have artwork being exhibited in multiple places. ARTsisters have several things going on. I still have some tech problems, but am trying my best to find my way around them for now. Never enough time to do it all. Do you ever feel that way?

Studio Stuff,....

My painting time has split up again. Spending time working on new and current images for the classes. But sometimes I jump[ back and forth to other projects. there's one painting I have started which combines two photos: one of a building in France and one of a dog...
No pic. Kind of early in the painting to even show you... (also due to tech problems...)

Working Hard; Courtesy Calls Are Nice.

I have been hard at work, developing some new images for the Michaels painting workshops. New landscape images for my students to paint, new florals, still lives and seascapes.
I encourage you to register for a class if you live near enough to either the King of Prussia or Conshohocken Michaels stores and want to learn how to paint.

I also strongly urge you to do the actual registering at least a day before class. This way, I know you're not pulling my leg when you say you will be there, which is what happened this past weekend. I had several verbal commitments for Sunday's class. They all decided to change their minds and not show up, without a courtesy call to me. I don't want to waste time driving to a no show class. I want to use my time wisely, creating new and exciting lessons for my painting students!

Shown here, is a recently finished painting of a squash, a pumpkin, tomato and a couple peppers, which ended up taking me six hours to paint. So I will either rework it to fit into 2 hours, or maybe it will be a 2 or 3-class project. Anyone interested?   Feedback is much appreciated.

FYI-
The 40% sale is still going on! (That's only $27 for the two-hour course where you will begin AND finish a small painting in the same session.)

I traveled up to state College PA this past weekend, and visually took in some gorgeous mountain views! Fall in Pennsylvania is so very colorful! [Sorry. Pix are still in camera!]

OK, So it's not the Mona Lisa,...

I've been busy working up new lesson plans for my painting workshops at Michaels Arts & Crafts stores. I worked on a seascape this morning, set it aside to do some other things, then I got a nice still life idea. A landscape is quietly sitting on a table easel on my window shelf, awaiting my decision of what to do next to finish some detailing. I often work this way; working on one thing for a time, then switching gears to something else, then back to it,... It can sometimes cause me to feel a little fractured in my thinking, but at least I rarely get bored with what I'm doing!
That might be why I really like the idea of these classes at Michaels that I'm teaching. I like the idea of working to finish a painting in just two hours. Of course the subject matter of these paintings are not Mona Lisa's or anything (I'm sure the Mona Lisa took much longer to complete than two hours!) These paintings are much simpler in design, but still have several elements which allow adequate learning to take place. Each class covers at least a few of the common techniques used in acrylic painting. Throw in a little composition and color theory lessons and a whole lot of fun and there ya have it!
If you always wanted to try your hand at acrylics, here's your chance. Sign up at the store of your choice. I teach at King of Prussia Store on Thursdays (and some Sundays) and at Plymouth Meeting on Tuesdays.
Tomorrow: framing work.

Painting Workshop Tuesday evening at Michaels-Roadside Cattails

Gearing up for painting another landscape!
My painting workshops at the Plymouth Meeting Michaels Arts & Crafts store have come full circle by now. At this store, the students and I have painted one image from each of the categories so far: Landscape, Floral, Seascape and Still Life. This Tuesday (October 5th, 2010) we are back onto the landscape category. I will be showing students how to paint a brand new landscape called "Roadside Cattails.".

One aspect of the lesson is how to take certain images from more than one reference photos, to use in one's painting. So we will be taking the sky image from this photo:

And the land views from this photo,

To arrive at a combination picture that looks something like this:

If you would like to give it (painting, that is) a try, I urge you to steal away for a couple hours and come paint with us. Class starts promptly at 6:30 (so come a little before that time so you can sign up and get supplies beforehand!)

FYI,
Michaels is still offering a hefty 40% off the class tuition so this class is only $27. Buying the supply kit is optional, although you do need to have enough supplies (a painting surface, the proper brushes and paint colors) in order to complete the painting!

If you can't make it Tuesday, you can have a go at a still life this Thursday at the King of Prussia store!
More details about this program can be found by clicking the "Michaels Workshops" link above.
Please feel free to share this info with folks you know who might like to read it! Thank you.