I hope you had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.

The appliance crisis cloud seems to have followed me to our vacation home with three things failing on us. The clothes dryer, the ice maker on the refrigerator and all the electrical plugs in our bedroom. What the heck is going on? I think it is time to take out my sage stick and scare away the home ownership ghouls. I won’t even mention the desk light that kept going on and off by itself.

But, if you own a home, inevitably things will go wrong. I just wish they would spread themselves out and not break the bank.

Some good news. I was able to find time to do a bit of painting (yes, on a canvas!). We have good light at the cabin and so painting amid the peace and quiet is very therapeutic.

Unfortunately, due to COVID, my art classes in Phoenix have been cancelled until September. In a previous blog post, I mentioned following Kelli Folsom’s video still life lessons, Vital Arts with Kelli, with the intention to have the flexibility of online instruction. The ultimate goal is to paint every day. Right now I hope to paint at least every Friday.

The lesson I selected is an antique sugar bowl with oranges.

Here is the photo of the live setup. I believe this arrangement works because orange is the complement of blue ~~they really look lovely together against the rustic wood table.

Kelli’s video instruction is approximately 35 minutes. I like to listen to a good portion of it first, before I start painting. Again, I did this in acrylic paints while Kelli uses oil. Vastly different mediums.

Here is what I love about painting. Everyone has their own interpretation and style. No two are the same. When I see Kelli’s loose brushstrokes, I wish I could paint that way. Her painting of the still life is very different than mine.

Here is my version. It is not quite done yet, as I am in the stage of just staring at it for a few days to see what I can improve upon.

But isn’t this fun to see the differences in style?

What I find most challenging is getting the shadows/darks in the right places, the different values and the scale of the pieces. And orange is one of those colors that is hard to create!

If you recall, I started painting when my middle child went off to college~~nearly 5 years ago. I have never painted before and it is intimidating to start something new at an older age. To see more about my painting journey, click here.

But each time I put the paintbrush on the canvas I learn something. Especially in this time of uncertainty, I find comfort in starting and finishing a project. I’ve decided I am not good with ambiguity as I like beginnings and endings. Doesn’t life seem to be a big blur right now?

Painting is a way for me to spend hours focusing on something else. Tuning out the world and its problems is a good thing.

Do you have a hobby or interest that is therapeutic? If so, please share. Many of us may be at a stage in life where we are looking for new challenges or skills.

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday.

One of the activities I REALLY miss during quarantine, is taking my weekly art class. It is one of the few times where I carve out a few hours for myself to learn something new each week. However, during our hot summers, most people leave town and head for cooler country. So our classes are on pause for the summer.

My friend Janie recommended taking online classes with Kelli Folsom. Kelli Folsom is an academically trained artist working exclusively from life in oils. She creates museum quality paintings combining an old master feel with rich color and painterly brushstrokes.

So last summer, I signed up for her weekly classes which occur every Friday. For a monthly fee, the classes are dropped into my email inbox and I can access them whenever I’d like. The monthly charge is $29.99.

However, I haven’t been disciplined to paint every Friday and I’ve only watched a few of Kelli’s videos. So yesterday, it was time to dedicate the afternoon to a Kelli Folsom video.

Art Life with Kelli is the name of her website. Kelli is very engaging and if you love still life paintings, you will enjoy her website. Click here for more information.

This week’s lesson is about tulips. Kelli paints from a live setup and here is a photo of her subject. The lesson is approximately 30-35 minutes long.

Here is Kelli via my iPad. You can see the tulips behind her.

Even though I signed up for this weekly art class to learn more about oils, the lesson doesn’t go into detail about oil paints. You need to have a good working knowledge of oils beforehand. But like most things, I fell back onto what I am most comfortable with, so I used acrylic paints for this session.

Kelli divides her canvas into sections with strokes from her brush. Being a geometric thinker, I have success in dividing the image beforehand. I print out a color copy and then measure the image into thirds in each direction. Using a white pencil, I can now paint this image to scale.

After applying Gesso to my canvas, I am ready to start painting. The canvas is 12″ x 12″.

Unlike oils, acrylic paint dries very quickly. You cannot move the paint around like you can with oils. I did mark where the tulips would be on the canvas and the scale of the vase.

What I like about Kelli’s lessons is that she will focus on a topic. This lesson is specifically how to paint tulips~~the shapes, the colors, and the petal luminescence.

Painting glass is a bit challenging. You cannot paint clear but need to capture the essence of glass.

Here is the finished version of Kelli’s of tulips in a glass vase. You can see her use of rich color and broad brushstrokes.

And here is my painting, which is quite different from hers.

There is quite a bit of noodling to do, but I am pleased with the direction I am going. Now if I can only commit to doing this every Friday afternoon, I believe I would improve my ability. I may try to do this painting again, but with oils to see if it is any easier.

Do you belong to an online educational program? I really struggle with putting time aside for myself so if you have any tips on how to do that, I would greatly appreciate it!

We are experiencing high temperatures here. Had to finally turn on our air conditioner as they are predicting more heat for the coming week. Summer cannot be here already!!! Have a fabulous Saturday!

To see previous posts about my art journey, see below.

Update on My Artist Endeavors

Latest Painting Class

Update on My Painting Journey

We just wrapped up 6 weeks of painting classes and I can honestly say it wasn’t one of my best. Some days, magic happens on the canvas and other days, not so much. But I am willing to share the good, the bad and the ugly with you, because that’s life, right? I missed the last week of class (in Canada) so I only have 5 pieces to show you.

The focus of this class session was color. Each class we learned about how to mix various paints to achieve the color we want. I really struggle with greens and purple, so it was good for me to take photos of my teacher’s notebook. Joann Augur is so talented and I feel grateful to be in her class.

I am almost embarrassed to show you the really bad ones so I will keep those to the end. Though I believe EACH piece still needs a lot of work and noodling, I am happy with the progress of these two. As I stated I really struggle with greens and purples, and this painting has many versions of those two colors.

Here’s another which I think has promise. Yellow and blue were the focus and who doesn’t love a bowl with lemons? I still don’t have the lemons just right, but it’s a work in progress.

Each class, the teacher passes out a sheet with several thumbnail pictures. We get to choose which of the pictures we want to paint. I always tend to pick the hardest one, because, I am there to learn. Any picture on the top row I thought would be difficult. But I liked the colors of the girl in the hat. Here is how she should look….

And here is what I painted. Sigh. It was so difficult to not paint a face but a series of shadows in odd colors. This is one painting I will need to put aside and look at it with fresh eyes weeks from now.

The next painting my teacher LOVED, but I do not. Maybe because the subject isn’t my style. Our lesson was in the colors of red and my dreaded green. Not sure why I picked this one to paint but here it is. It is really painful for me to show you paintings that I’m not delighted with. This is another one I need to put aside….or paint over.

I am saving the most ghastly for last. Here are the painting choices. Everyone else did either the blue box/plum or the eggplant on the bottom left. Not me…I decided to do the two plums in the upper right hand corner. Again, I really struggle with purple and that bloom (whitish coating) on the plums is so difficult.

So here are my two plums. Groan. It is always helpful to see my painting in a photo. I can tell immediately what is wrong with it. However, when I am painting, I can’t see the problems. This one needs so much work still, but I really want to try and get it right, because don’t they look like two scary eyes? Ha!

The good news is painting is like gardening to me. While I am doing it I am not thinking of anything else. It’s such a nice respite from all the stresses of the world. And even though there are some days that I stink as a painter, I still enjoy the challenge of it all. To see my painting progress over time, click here.

During this reclusive time, I hope to go through all my unfinished art and try to at least finish the ones that are worthwhile. Enjoy your Tuesday and feel free to critique my paintings with your comments. I will read them with a big glass of wine!

Learning something new later in life can be a bit of a challenge. After my 2nd child went off to college, I decided to try my hand at painting. A dear gardening friend/art teacher began giving classes rather close to my home and I thought, “Why not try this?”

My first art classes involved acrylic paints. The paints dry quickly on the canvas and clean up is easy with soap and water. The very first class we learned about shapes and shadows. The teacher, Joann Augur, provides thumbnails of paintings as inspiration. You pick one and then attempt to paint it in your own style.

I remember that first class. I literally knew nothing. Gesso? What is that? Alizarin red? It was all so foreign to me. Putting the brush to the canvas was intimidating. Where do I start? What colors to choose? What do I paint first? But Joann’s kind and gentle guidance, made the experience less painful.

Here is my very first acrylic painting done in the August 2015. The purpose of this lesson was to train our eye to look at shapes not the object. Where is the light coming from? What is the shape of the shadow? Though it’s hard to tell, but this is an abstract version of an apple. I recall being so proud of this!

Here are some details about the class I take. The session typically last 4-6 weeks and we focus on a topic~~color, perspective, landscape, faces, values. The class is held on either Tuesday or Wednesday for 3 hours; 1-4 p.m. or 2-5 p.m. The cost is usually around $225.00 or so.

Here are some other earlier paintings from 2015. Joann told us to paint our shoe. My shoe is gray and splattered with paint and stains. I took artistic license and changed the colors.

What I love about the class is that people with different levels of experience are welcomed. Some have never even picked up a brush and others have been painting for years. Joann is such a good teacher she is able to provide challenges for the more experienced students, while taking time with the newbies.

On to 2016. This landscape was a happy accident. I failed to completely paint the background before I added the trees. Sometimes mistakes can be a good thing as it looks like the sun is peaking through the dark sky.

Feeling a little more confident after a few months of classes, I decided to try a seasonal Valentine painting for my home and it was the first one I framed. I display it every February and it makes me happy!

One of my favorite classes was learning about the Masters and trying to replicate their paintings.

In 2017, our Winter class focused on color and we learned how to paint flowers. At this point, my fears of painting have subsided and I have relaxed the death grip on my brush.

In the Spring of 2018, we focused on painting faces and people.

In addition to acrylic painting classes, I branch out to try oil painting. A few of my master painter friends are students at the Scottsdale Artist School. Talk about getting out of my comfort zone! Oil paints are so different from acrylics~~they are much more expensive, don’t dry quickly and require a different set of blending skills. Instead of painting from an image, you paint from a real life set up. That first class I felt like a deer in headlights.

This was my 3rd oil painting attempt. Both workshops were given by Nancy Chaboun, a fabulous artist and teacher. I highly recommend taking a class from her. She is delightful and very talented.

Since each student has a different perspective on the still life set up, each painting is a bit different.

During this time, I continued to take acrylic classes, which are much closer to home. Below are a few I completed in 2018. You can see my progress, I hope!

Last year, I spent some time finally finishing some paintings that were incomplete. During the 3 hour class, I rarely finish a painting in class. If I like where the painting is heading, I tend to finish it at home. If not, it sits for months until I decided to either paint over it or finish it.

This is one of my favorites, inspired by Romona Youngquist. Not only is she a talented painter, but she also bakes beautiful breads. To see more of her work, click here. I would love to copy everything she paints.

Last summer was the first time I took my supplies and easel on vacation. It was a relaxing way to paint. The flowers below were inspired by Cecilia Rosslee. You can purchase her paintings on Etsy. Click here for the link.

As I start a new art session, I look forward to getting better at this. Painting is a bit like golf. One day, you play a spectacular game and the next day you can’t even hit the ball. I have only taken two classes so far this year and neither painting is even close to being finished.

If you live in Phoenix and want to start painting, Joann Augur is located at the Studio for Creative Development at 12th Street and Glendale.

I hope this post inspires you to try something new. I find as we get older, it is so easy to get stuck in the same routine. Our paths to learn are not as available and we must continue to stretch ourselves, or we will become old and boring. Maybe someday, I will be able to sell my work.

Wishing you a creative Wednesday!

I know it is the day before Thanksgiving and I am sure you are busy with recipes, family, friends, guests and just about everything.

So today’s post will be a quick one, completely unrelated to Thanksgiving.

I am wrapping up another painting class session with the amazing teacher/artist Joann Augur. The class is once a week for 3 hours; classes run for 6 weeks.

The focus has been on values, which I really struggle with. Value is the lightness or darkness of color or hue. If a painting doesn’t have value, it tends to be flat, lifeless and uninteresting. Creating dark areas of contrast is my challenge~~my darks are never dark enough.

So this is a great class for me to take. The good news is that if I don’t like what I have painted, I can paint over it. None of these paintings are finished, but I imagine I will try to do so at some point in the future, as they don’t fall under my “absolutely ghastly” category.

We are 5 weeks into this painting period and I believe I missed one = 4 paintings focusing on value. If you have an interest in taking up painting, I encourage you to do so. It has only been a few years for me, and I know I have a lot to learn, but it forces me outside of my comfort zone.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post today. I am grateful to you for all the support, ideas, and comments that help me be better at this blogging life.

Wishing you and yours a happy, blessed Thanksgiving.