Brush Strokes Painting of the Month

My painting Big Ol' Barn won Painting of the Month honors at the December 10 Brush Strokes meeting.  This painting is based on a large barn I came upon in Ohio.  The painting is for sale for $325 framed, and is hanging in the Coronado Center in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas until January 14.

3-Day Watercolor Workshop

I taught a 3-day Watercolor Workshop on July 12 - 14 in Hot Springs Village, AR, under the auspices of Brush Strokes Art Club. Twelve students were subjected to my approach to watercolor painting, including talks on design, perspective, symbols, landscape guidelines, what makes a good shape, color, etc. Somehow they all seemed to not only survive, but to prosper. Intrinsic to the workshop was a half-sheet, 2-hour demo each morning. I've posted here photos of the class and of the three demo paintings I completed. For more information on my watercolor workshops, including how to schedule one for your group, please visit my website workshops page.

Best of Show in Brush Strokes Exhibit

I'm pleased to report that my painting Gallery Walk won Best of Show at the Brush Strokes Garland County Library exhibit. Selma Blackburn was judge. The show is very nice and worth a look; stop by to see it during July and August.

Best of Show in Brush Strokes Exhibit

The Brush Strokes art club holds its major exhibit each year at the Woodlands Auditorium in Hot Springs Village. This year I was awarded Best of Show for my half-sheet watercolor painting Arlington Hotel, depicting the famous Hot Springs icon. The judge was artist, instructor, and author Bob Rohm. The exhibit continues through the end of June.

Watercolor Workshop Scheduled

I'm scheduled to teach a 3-day watercolor workshop under the auspices of Brush Strokes in Hot Springs Village on July 14th to 16th. The signup sheet filled (12 people) the day we announced it. That is both encouraging and intimidating. I'm really looking forward to doing this - I've enjoyed the days I've taught previously, but never did an entire workshop myself. To learn more about the workshop, click here. We do have a waiting list, and if the demand "holds up", I'll probably teach a second session.

The image is of a quarter-sheet painting of the fountain in front of the Ponce deLeon center in hot springs village. This painting is hanging in the Woodlands lobby as part of Brush Strokes' HSV 40th Anniversary exhibit. There is a "Meet the Artists" reception there at 2 pm on August 24th.

Yet Another Demo

This seems to be the season of demos for me. Last Thursday, Barb Seibel invited me to do a 2-hour painting demo for her Brush Strokes-sponsored beginner watercolor class. I decided to paint a half-sheet Sound of Silence, which I have painted before. I enjoyed both the painting and the discussion of technique and design principles related to the painting. And the painting (attached) turned out pretty well, which does not always happen with demos.

I've also done a small version of this painting that I plan to offer as part of my Weekly Watercolor project.

Award at Brush Strokes Woodlands Exhibit

Brush Strokes is holding its major 2009 exhibit  at the Woodlands Auditorium lobby in Hot Springs Village from April 15 through May 31.  At our reception on Friday, April 24, I won the 2nd place prize in the professional category for my full-sheet painting High and Dry.  This painting is based on a scene I came upon at a marina in Maui, Hawaii.  The exhibit was judged by Frank Francese.

Frank Francese Workshop

This past week, I participated in a three-day Frank Francese watercolor workshop. Frank is a teriffic teacher... he teaches an approach to painting that helps one loosen up, and is a really fine, down-to-earth human being. I've posted one of the six paintings I finished at the workshop... this one in about an hour, with no pencil drawing at all on the watercolor paper! Frank finished up his week with a fantastic program for Brush Strokes, including two full-sheet painting demos. He then judged our Woodlands painting exhibit. I would recommend Frank's workshop to every watercolor organization without reservation.

President of Brush Strokes

I have been elected president of Brush Strokes for 2009.  During December, I worked to staff all of the positions we need to manage exhibits, workshops, publicity, etc., and the members came through and filled all of the defined openings.  We had our first meeting of 2009 last Friday, and it started off in mass confusion... the Coronado Center said that "someone" had called and cancelled the meeting, so as members arrived, all of the room setup still had to be done.  The Coronado Center folks did a great job recovering.  We had our first Painting of the Month vote, and it was a big hit.  Don Pohlman won with a great abstract dyptic in acrylic, which is hanging in Coronado Center until February 13.  In all, the meeting was hectic, but fun.  I've attached a photo of (left to right) June Harris, our secretary, me, and Marlene Gremillion, our vice-president, who is also responsible for our meeting programs.  Our treasurer John Keller missed the photo-op.

Richard Stephens Workshop

I recently attended a 3-day workshop given by Richard Stephens and sponsored by Brush Strokes.  It was great, as usual.  Richard's demos were varied... a barn, an urban scene, and a portrait.  I followed his pattern, and produced three reasonable paintings (all shown here).  His portrait demo particularly captured my imagination, and motivated me to try a few additional portraits after the workshop.  But it's been a struggle... so, what's new?  Richard is a great teacher and painting coach, and I've learned an awful lot from him.

2008 Brush Strokes Galleria

The Brush Strokes Art Club of Hot Springs Village will hold its 2008 Galleria this coming Saturday, November 1, from 9:30 until 2:00.  There will be over 40 artists exhibiting their paintings, demonstrating, and offering paintings, prints, and cards for sale.  The Village Strings will provide music, and light refreshments will be served.  Come to the Coronado Center this Saturday to enjoy the art and the atmosphere.  I've included a photo of my table from a previous Galleria.

Brush Strokes Exhibit at Garland County Library

Today was the reception and announcement of winners at the annual Brush Strokes juried show at the Garland County Library.  This is the best Brush Strokes show I've seen.  I entered my painting Fresh Shrimp (shown here) but didn't win a ribbon.  I've included a photo of the winners who were present, along with Gail Sheasby who organized the exhibit, and Richard Stephens who juried and judged it.  It's very worth a trip to the library to see this show.

Ratindra Das Workshop and Brush Strokes Exhibit

Last week I attended a 3-day watercolor workshop in Hot Springs Village taught by Ratindra Das and sponsored by Brush Strokes.  I learned some important things about managing paint on wet paper, and I painted four paintings wet on wet on a vertical easel.  However,  I don't favor Ratindra's "flat shapes" painting style, and was unsuccessful replicating it in my paintings.  I've attached a painting of sailboats in a harbor on Maui that I did in the workshop, but it looks a lot like my usual style.

Ratindra also judged the annual Brush Strokes exhibit hanging in the Woodlands auditorium lobby in Hot Springs Village, and I was awarded second place for my painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn.  This is a rather old painting.  I had planned to exhibit a different painting, but it sold from my This Fair Land exhibit at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs in March.

Portrait Demonstrations

Because I won the Gold Award at the Mid-Southern Watercolorists 2007 Annual Exhibition, I was invited to present "How I Did It" at the January MSW meeting.  Because of time constraints, I spent most of the time describing my portrait-painting process, and just demonstrated a few of the steps.  I've attached a photo of me in the process.  (It was more fun than it looks like.)

I'll be repeating this program at the Brush Strokes meeting on February 22.  There, I'll do the painting vertically, to avoid having to have the overhead mirror set up.  I've also prepared a handout of the steps so people can leave with some simple instructions.

Brush Strokes Galleria

Join me at the second annual Brush Strokes Galleria, which will be held at Coronado Center in Hot Springs Village on Saturday, November 3, from 10 am to 3 pm. There will be many Brush Strokes members exhibiting and selling their art, as well as artist demonstrations and free refreshments. In addition to original paintings, I will have prints and note cards available.

Brush Strokes Exhibition at Garland County Library

The annual Brush Strokes competitive exhibition at Garland County Library opened on Saturday, June 30 with an afternoon reception. Unfortunately, I was away and unable to attend the reception. Charles Harrington, a very accomplished acrylics painter, judged the exhibit. Charles had just taught a 3-day workshop for the Brush Strokes art club in Hot Springs Village.

I saw the exhibit yesterday, and was impressed with the quality of the entries. There are almost 40 paintings hanging. I entered Country Christmas, a half-sheet snow scene (image attached), but did not win an award.

This exhibit is well worth seeing. It will be hanging in the library until the end of August.

Brush Strokes Exhibition at Woodlands Auditorium

The annual Brush Strokes art club exhibition at Woodlands Auditorium in Hot Springs Village will be hanging during June, July and August. I took a look at it a few days ago, and was very impressed. The work is all of very high quality, and it is hung nicely, without any crowding. It is very much worth a visit.

I have two paintings hanging in this exhibition. They are both quarter-sheet paintings, and are waterscapes... one with a shrimp boat working in rough seas, and the other a fishing boat docked in a swampy area. I've included their images here.