Dear watercolor friends,
There are several art events coming up that I’d like to share with you:
This coming Friday evening, December 13, the Torpedo Factory Artists Association is sponsoring an evening Gallery Walk + Chocolate. I will be keeping our studio open until about 8 pm that day, with a bit of chocolate on hand, so you are most cordially invited to come see my recent work, including pieces yet to be framed. As an added treat you can enjoy the variety and beauty of the ceramic vessels created by my studio partner, Bev Andrews. Her specialties are black and white raku, and vases and other vessels for ikebana arrangements. Her inventiveness makes each piece entirely unique. When she cannot work on her pots, she makes jewelry with beading and semi-precious stones, which is also on display in our studio.
Anyone with at least a little watercolor experience is welcome to join my next Art League workshop, “Negative Painting: A Positive Experience for Watercolorists”. This is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, January 7 and 8. Painting around your subject to reveal it, rather than painting the subject directly, gives a good workout to our art brains, and is a great way to move away from literal representation into a more abstract or stylized approach. It is quite an experience to watch your composition gradually unfold as you work, as you cannot go at negative painting with a tightly preconceived idea – it just doesn’t work that way! Instead the results can be quite surprising!
For anyone without watercolor experience but wanting to try it out, or anyone wanting to pick it up again after a hiatus, I suggest “Jumpstart in Watercolor”, which will happen on Saturday and Sunday, January 11 and 12. This “total immersion” in watercolor will give students a chance to explore some of the many possibilities of the medium. It can serve as a basic introduction to watercolor, a refresher for someone who hasn’t painted for a while, and as a preparation and confidence-builder for students intending a longer-term study of the medium. No previous experience in watercolor is assumed; very basic drawing skills are helpful but not required by any means.
All my Art League workshops run from 10 to 4 each day. Let me know if you would like to see a supply list for either of these two workshops.
Regular Winter Term Art League classes start the week of January 13, so my Tuesday evening class will start on January 14 and my Wednesday morning class on January 15. These classes run for 9 sessions total – my hope during the winter is for good weather on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!
As things get chillier and greyer now that we are in meteorological winter, my best wishes for holding onto color, light and warmth through art! Rachel