Monday, July 11, 2011

Orange on Pink



Some workshops are better than others. The workshop I taught this weekend falls clearly in the better to best category. At the top of the list is the wonderful group of gals I worked with - ranging in experience level from total beginners to very advanced art teachers. The commraderie, sharing, humor, and personality mix made this a group from heaven. They were a joy to work with as well as a hoot to hang out with. Altho I'm a taskmaster with the pace and the exercises, there was a good balance between learning and laughing. Add to that perfect weather, stunning seaside location and roomy gallery/studio sponsored by the ultimate hostess with the mostess, it doesn't get much better than this.

Here is a still life painting I did, which demonstrated using a color scheme of dominant analagous warm colors with small hints of complementary cool color as accents. The painting took an hour and was done with one 2" brush - which I rarely (if at all) dipped into water because the colors were so related. There was a lively discussion that followed about how to make subjects glow, which translated into a series of exercises on color harmony and relationships.

I always hand out an evaluation form at the end of each class and one of my questions is "What would have made this workshop better?" No matter how long the class is, whether it be 3 hours or 3 days, the answer is always the same... "more time". That makes me feel good, I'm thinking about new lessons and exercises for a 5 day workshop. The icing on the cake, however, is always the great people I meet and get to know. Thanks gals, f0r such a great weekend.

Pink on Orange
9x12 Acrylic on Canvas

7 comments:

angela said...

I sure miss your classes Patti. Need to sign up soon!!

angie Brooksby-Arcangioli said...

Hi Patti, that painting is awesome. It does exactly what you planned. Want to plan for a painting workshop in Tuscany or Paris next summer? I have all the contacts and can do the foot work, language, place, etc, email if you want?

Jerry Stocks said...

Patti, this painting is beautiful. Please plan to do a workshop somewhere that I can attend.

ArtChick1 said...

I am so very glad to know that you have taken action to make these workshops happen so successfully,
Best regards,
Helene

Patti Mollica said...

Angela -
I miss them too - maybe we'll start up again in the fall - I'll speak to Adam. In the meantime I hope you are painting regularly.

Angie - yes - lets do that! Either location suits me just fine. Lets coordinate how to make it happen - thanks for a great suggestion!

Jerry - thankyou - where do you live? I'll address the acrylic issue very soon

Artchick - great to hear from you - the success comes from a step by step approach so you have confidence before you even get to the paint. Fast and bold is all about having the confidence to work fast without fussing.

Grace: next Fast/Bold workshop is Oct. 23 in Nyack NY from 10-4 pm see http://www.mollicastudio.com/htmlpages/workshop_files/index.html

Lisa - yes, I should have sent out an email to all students in the area - next time for sure. We are talking about doing another workshop in the fall so I will definately keep you posted.

Claire Kayser said...
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Claire Kayser said...
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