April 2023
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| What would I do with these phenomenal women? Vicki Norman on the left, Michelle Held on the right |
Alleviating that preoccupation of worry has freed up a tremendous amount of space in my head and has given me confidence to chase this dream harder than ever before. Instead of wringing my hands over whether or not I’m doing the right things, now I know with 100% certainty that I can get where I want to go. It’s still going to require a tremendous amount of hard work and there will be tough days, but the payoff will be worth it in the end.
Let’s get into the events of this month:
CHRISTINE LASHLEY WORKSHOP
April teed off with a Christine Lashley workshop at the Booth Museum. My friend Monica was also in the workshop with me, which made it really fun. It was exciting to watch her progress over the course of several days. We primarily focused on water and reflections, but we covered a lot of other topics including the fade of the sky, colorful grays, atmospheric perspective, trees and rocks. I was pleased with how I painted, but the information was not as organized as other workshops I’ve taken and I also didn’t really feel a connection with the instructor. She only visited with me three times over the course of three days, and that was disappointing, but it also tells me that maybe I’m further along than I realized because I did almost everything by myself.
Here are my paintings from the workshop:
There are three kinds of plein air events: open, juried and invitationals. Anyone can participate in an open plein air competition, no qualifications are required, simply pay your fee and you’re in. A juried event is one where you submit sample paintings for review and a juror or committee reviews all of the submitted work then selects the participants. Georgia Color is a great example of a juried plein air competition. And lastly, there is an invitational, which means that a person (or persons) who is managing the event selects who can participate. You can’t apply or submit work for consideration.
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| My friends Eleanor, Bambi, Vicki, Jenny, Preston, Lisa, Joel and Maria were also invited, among others |
Open Air Meriwether (OAM) is an invitational held every April in Meriwether County, Georgia. David Boyd is the founder of OAM and an artist I admire. I took a workshop from him several years ago and have stayed in touch. Occasionally my plein air group is invited down to Newnan, Georgia, to paint with him at Three Hearts Farm. So, it was an honor to be invited to participate in OAM this year.
My roommate was Jenny, and we laughed nonstop for 5 days. Our cabin was not exactly the Ritz Carlton so it helped to bunk with someone who had a fantastic sense of humor. My favorite moment from the event was the night Vicki picked wildflowers on the side of the road, placed them in a vase on the front porch of the guys’ cabin and we painted them. It was misty with just enough light at sunset, drinking wine on the porch, listening to music and painting. About 45 minutes into my painting Vicki walked over to check out my painting and said in her lovely British accent, “I do believe you’re a flower painter,” and gave me a smile. She will never know how much that meant to me.
My second favorite moment was the day that Maria and I went to lunch with Vicki and she let us ask her a bajillion questions about the plein air circuit, questions we’ve mulled a thousand times, questions we’ve been dying to ask, things we needed to know. It was awesome, a gift, really.
We weren’t competing with each other at this invitational. There were no awards, no quick paint, just like-minded artists who love painting outdoors. Everyone was supportive, friendly, and kind. Maria, Lisa and I were the newbies but they welcomed us into the family. If I’m lucky enough to be invited back next year, I will most definitely go back. Meriwether is easily one of the most paintable areas of Georgia … who knew!?
OLMSTED
After OAM, I thought there was no way that things could get any better. Wrong! In early April I received an email asking if Scott and I would consider hosting an artist. I almost said no, but then I thought about it some more and realized it could be an opportunity to connect with someone and learn even more about life on the circuit. The first artist they paired me with was someone that I knew wasn’t the right personality fit, then I was given two more options and one of those was Michelle Held. I’d never heard of Michelle before, but I looked at her website, read her bio and her smile radiated a sense of genuine warmth and fun. I wasn’t wrong about that!
Michelle arrived on Tuesday afternoon. I helped her get situated, then we had a quick dinner Tuesday night. From the very beginning, I could tell we were going to be compatible. What I didn’t realize is that I was making a friend for life. This woman is a FORCE, a FIREBALL, a confident, funny, passionate, generous, amazing human being. I’m not kidding you, my life changed during the six days we spent together. I think we wore Scott out, but I’m so glad he spent time with her, too, because now he understands how I’m wired and what it takes to succeed. Plein air painters are a different breed. I wish I could come up with an analogy, but I honestly don’t know if there is one? I’ll say this - my days of running trails, marathons, triathlons, etc, prepared me for all of this. From schlepping gear to sweating your ass off, fighting bugs, driving down random dirt roads in search of a scene, the plein air community is not for the faint of heart. We are rough and tough. Studio painters are a bit more delicate and refined. This, of course, is my opinion and doesn’t apply to everyone, but generally speaking, that’s the way it seems to me. And you best believe that when the dog days of summer hit the ATL in August, I’ll be at home, in my studio with the plein air conditioning set at a chilly 67 degrees. I’m tough, but I ain’t that tough.
On Thursday Michelle gave a demo using flowers I had at home. I was able to catch bits and pieces, but I was also helping staff the gallery so I missed a fair amount of information. That night Scott and I took Michelle and Vicki to dinner where we enjoyed more stories from their adventures on the circuit.
On Friday morning I’d scheduled an appointment that I made a long time ago. Fortunately I was able to reschedule that so that I could take Michelle up to Old Car City to paint for the morning. We were up and on the road early so that we could get back early because I had another obligation that afternoon. This experience was another major highlight of my week.
Saturday morning I had the opportunity to catch portions of a demo from Neal Hughes, then I came home to rest for a bit before Saturday night’s big awards ceremony. We had a pre-party snack and cocktail at home and put on our Bob Ross tattoos that Michelle picked up earlier that day from Blick.
Our friend, Mark Karelson, was one of the judges for the final awards ceremony. We hadn’t seen him since pre-Covid, so it was a nice to catch up with him, but the highlight of the night was seeing Vicki earn a Judges Merit Award for her painting from Atlanta History Center.
There were several people, who wanted this painting, but we snatched that sucker up lightning fast. It is an exquisite painting, no doubt, but there is so much more to it than that. Vicki is not only a great painter, she’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. It’s also a painting I plan to study and learn from.
We also purchased one of Michelle’s paintings, a gorgeous painting of irises that she finished on our front porch. Scott came home one day from work and found her on our front porch, putting finishing touches on it. We had to have it!
Finally, it was time to wrap up the week with the Quick Paint on Sunday morning. I knew a lot of artists would paint the grass and trees that line Olmsted Linear Park and I wanted to paint something different. After wandering about for 30 minutes, I started walking back to my car to grab my backpack and I spotted a few flowers growing in one of the yards. The light was hitting them just right, lots of contrast, so I decided immediately that this would be my painting.
If you’re not familiar with a Quick Paint competition, it works like this … you get two hours (sometimes longer, sometimes shorter), to start and complete a painting. We kicked off at 8:30 a.m., finished at 10:30 a.m., framed and delivered our art for the judges’ review. I didn’t sign my painting because I knew the judges and didn’t want their opinion to be swayed.
I didn’t win an award, nevertheless, I still felt very good about my painting. The other great thing about participating in a QP is that you get to see other artists’ interpretations of the area. I’ve gotten ideas on panel size and orientation, framing, composition, color, etc. You’d be amazed by what an artist can do in 2 hours. It’s remarkable.
It was rewarding to see the number of painters from my Virginia Highland Plein Air group who participated in the QP. Olmsted had a record turnout for the open/community division and I believe we played a large part in that.
And with that, Olmsted was a wrap. It was not easy to say goodbye to Michelle, but I know we are going to have a lot of fun times ahead.
That same afternoon after the QP, I packed my bags as fast as possible, hopped in the car and headed down to the swamp to meet up with Preston, Shani, Susan, Eleanor, Bambi, Pat, Julie, Maria P and her husband, David. We had two cabins at the Stephen C. Foster State Park and took turns cooking dinner for each other. There are no grocery stores, gas stations or any other shops/restaurants in the area besides the state park’s trading post. It is remote, isolated and peaceful.
I arrived just in time for dinner with the gang and realized I couldn’t text Scott to tell him I’d made it safely. Luckily I put my phone down on just the right spot on the sofa and saw a very weak cell phone signal. After trying to text him at least a dozen times, it finally went through.
We got a good night’s sleep (it’s SOOOO dark at night!) and hit Griffis Fish Camp on Monday morning for our first painting outing.
Julie (oily) and Preston (dusty)
So this is the Suwannee River, which runs 246 miles from South Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico. Tannins from decaying cypress trees tint the water to shades of black and brown so you’ll sometimes hear the water called “cypress tea.” There is also a lot of peat in the water as well as lots o’ snakes, water lilies and alligators.
I learned more about all of those things on my afternoon boat ride with a guide from the Department of Natural Resources. He eased our pontoon boat nice and close to the banks of the river so we could get up close and personal with some of the swamp’s alligators. My heart was racing as I snapped photo after photo, video after video.
Our guide told us that alligators can grow up to 11, 12 and 13 feet long. They can live up to around 75 years old and can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. He said they’ve grown very accustomed to the boat tours and keep to themselves. They’re much more interested in fish than humans. On our way back to the trading post we saw a man fishing on the banks of the river, not too far from where mamma gator was sitting on our way out. Our guide cautioned the man that it was not a safe spot, but the man ignored the warning. The next day I saw our guide and asked him if the man made it out alive — he said yes and added that many of the locals have grown “complacent” when it comes to proximity to the alligators.
The next day the sun was out so we ventured over to The Sill, which is a man made dam to help manage water flow, droughts and wildfires. As you drive along the paved road towards the dam, you can look off to the right and see alligators lining the banks. I’ve never seen so many GIGANTIC alligators in my life.
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| If you click on this photo and look in the distance you’ll see a huge gator on the banks |
While Preston painted out of the back of his car, I set up on the dam near Shani and Susan. Preston had given us a challenge the night before - complete a painting using only one color, plus black and white.
I love these challenges because it’s a chance to experiment, play and see how far I can stretch myself. It’s also great practice for analyzing value structure (lights versus darks). If you get the values correct, the painting should work. For example, my darkest darks are up front, the banks of the river are lighter, the background is cool and grayed off. My focal point, the cluster of trees is the most saturated paint and sits on top of a dark section of trees. I can totally picture this in a white frame in a room that is filled with blue and white decor.
After a quick lunch, we packed up and drove over to the trading post for one last painting session.
And here’s my painting from this location:
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| 12”h x 6”w, oil on panel |
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