June 2022

June 29, 2022

June 2022

Hello Summer!

I LOVE summer flowers and fresh tomatoes! We’re lucky that we live close enough to walk over to the Piedmont Park Green Market on Saturday mornings and load up on both. Last summer I painted a few zinnia paintings and struggled a little, but now I think I’ve found my groove and I thoroughly enjoy painting them. Zinnias are bright and cheerful with so many variations. I’m fascinated by the layers of colors, petal shapes and sizes and curls. I also think the underside of a zinnia petal is incredibly beautiful. They’re fun and challenging to paint.

In addition to the Piedmont Park Green Market, I also visited a few flower farms in the area and painted on site:

Painting lavender fields at Saddle Creek Lavender Farm was really cool! Afterwards, we bought the best smelling lavender oils, soap, bug spray and more.

See that silver umbrella in the middle of the field? That’s my friend, Maria, painting in the scorching heat at Copper Creek Farm in Calhoun, GA, about 60 miles north of Atlanta. I think I had a very romanticized notion of what it might be like to paint in a field of flowers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s gorgeous, but the heat was waaaaay too much for me.

We also painted in other interesting places around town:

Lost Corner Preserve in Sandy Springs

La Tavola in Virginia Highlands

Westside Beltline Trail

Woodland Gardens

Zonolite Park

STUDIO WORK

I spent more time in the studio than I have in quite a while. This gave me the opportunity to work on a few more paintings from our trip to France.

Coquelicots is the French word for poppies
6x12 oil on panel

Roussillon 6x12 oil on panel

Boulangerie 11x14 oil on panel

Market Day in Aix 8x10 oil on panel

Copper Creek Zinnias 10x10 oil on panel

I attended a Figure Drawing session at Atlanta Artists Center

And I drew myself at the hair salon
Yes, I take my sketchbook everywhere!

CLASS

I taught my first art class! Holy mackerel! I’ve been hoping to do this for so long and I finally got my chance! I had 16 students on a Sunday afternoon at Pontoon Brewing in Roswell. They all showed up early and dove in, and they painted with passion and enthusiasm. We stuck to black and white paint, with inspiration from Franz Kline.

Before they left I asked them to jot down some feedback on cards. It made my day to read what they wrote. One student wrote: “Enjoyed the free spirited instruction and the freedom to be creative without restriction and judgement.” Another student said, “Had a blast being a kid painting again!” One more student said, “Really fun! I loved the opportunity to have some creative freedom. Beth was great!”

I’d love to do it again, but I’d also really like to find a place where I can teach on a more regular basis and with real, legit studio space and easels.

And last, but not least, I gave a HIGHlights tour to a group of middle schoolers. They were an excellent group, super sharp, curious and engaged.

JULY

What’s on tap for July? More flower paintings, a little plein air (if it’s not too hot) and a workshop with Bill Davidson at the Booth Museum in Cartersville. I rarely go back to the same art instructor multiple times, but I have made two exceptions: Kathie Odom (twice) and now Bill for the fourth time. Bill knows color harmony and values like nobody else. And he can teach those concepts better than anyone I know. It helps that he knows where my mind is these days, he knows what I want and where I want to go with my art. I can hardly wait for his workshop.

OTIS and JUJU

Towards the end of every month I think, “Do I have enough photos of my babies to post for my blog?” Dumb question! Of course, I do! Otis has been funny lately. First of all, he wants Scott to give him a “car wash” every morning before Scott leaves for work. Then, he sits and stares at me until I get out of bed so he can sleep in my spot for the day. And then in the afternoons, around 3:30 or 4 (after I’ve finished painting and showered) he comes downstairs and sits on me while I read. Of course, JuJu could care less about any of that. He just wants to sit in the hottest place in the house and snooze. Unless it’s sheet changing day :)