Sunday, February 25, 2018

Christopher Schink Workshop Feb 2018

It was wonderful to be attending Christopher Schink's workshop again! As usual, it was held at Sylvia Megerdichian's Art Box Studio in Upland. This one was called "Making the Leap to Abstraction." We were told to bring reference material, and I brought a photograph of my favorite local birding place, the Bolsa Chica wetlands. I made three consecutive attempts to abstract this place, but I was too tied to the reality of the photograph. The third one is better in terms of abstraction, but it still doesn't quite work. It may be that Bolsa Chica doesn't lend itself well to abstraction. I may try again.





Then I made up abstract birds in two different color schemes, using colors I rarely use. Actually, I rarely use the yellow green and the rose color in the last Bolsa Chica abstract either. The last bird was well liked by the teacher and my fellow students. Yay!

Puffin-ish

Stork-ish
Had a lot of fun, loved seeing Toph and Sylvia again, got some painting done. Also enjoyed socializing and discussing grandchildren with the other attendees, some of whom were from far away (Texas, Mississippi, Boston), some of whom I knew from prior years, and most of whom are excellent artists. Can't wait for next year!



Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Workshops Galore

So far in 2018 I have taken or signed up for several workshops. Besides being lots of fun, workshops tend to shake up my thinking and get me painting after a lull. The year started with Jacki Long's fun weekly collage workshop at Catalyst. See her blog at http://jackilong.blogspot.com . In Jacki's class I made an image that I put into my iPad and made into something new, to enter into the Huntington Beach Art Leagues "Selfies" show.

Journal Collage

Journal Collage

"Worry" (done on iPad with Procreate)

I decided to try a nonobjective painting, completely painted negatively. It turned out OK, and I want to try some more nonobjectives.

"No Object" (watercolor)

Went to workshop with Katherine Chang Liu and did a couple of small things, and got inspired when I got home to try to start a series.

"Arctic"
"Into the Woods"


"Imagining Mom"  (collage on watercolor)


I have spent a great deal of my life at desks, so I decided to do a series of paintings of my desks. Here's the first one:

"Wall Desk"  (watercolor and India ink)

Now looking forward to workshops with Christopher Schink, Rich Hawk, and Rise Parberry. Wow!