Farm Fresh ~ Lake House ~ Art Journal Pages

At CBC's Lake House retreat we made a short side trip to take photos at a wonderful farm and we had all cameras snapping. I plan to paint roosters and chickens soon, maybe a few goats. I'll leave the rabbits to other members. We saw horses, pigs, puppies, and one day old baby chickens. The mother hen was trying to teach them to scratch for food but they were not very good listeners, running around and glad to be alive. Each member contributed a sketch for the journal. I don't think my rooster below could actually walk as I placed his legs a little off center.

I don't really ride bikes (used to) but this is a crazy card Karen gave me and on the other page we all had to take a photograph of the beautiful tulip gift bag. Karen and CC provided a delightful skit we dubbed "Beauty Shop Gossip" at the Lake House Theatre. They expounded on each member with a little truth and lots of exhaggeration - for one they said I was 72 going on 12 and my heavy backpacks have caused all the hangers to fall off in the bathroom stalls!

We started a wine bottle painting and I finished "C" and "H" and failed to take a photo, guess I was thinking about farm animals and gift bags but below you'll get an idea of what the painting might look like. It's not on our web site yet. Other entertainment included watching painting DVD's by Janet Rogers, Shirley Trevena, and Charles Reid. Great news by telephone....we've sold a painting...yahoo!! Wonderful news to add to a perfect painting retreat.

Art Journal Materials:
I mentioned in a previous post about giving a short art journaling class to the CBC members at our Lake House retreat last weekend. A Google search will turn up lots of information on keeping a journal but I subscribe to Illustrated Watercolor Journaling and they have an updated link page on materials and supplies. They have a good dvd on art journaling as well.

Janet Rogers Workshop ~ Flowers Watercolor ~ Art Journal Pages

This 21" x 13" watercolor floral was done in the Janet Rogers workshop and I tried out some of her colors and techniques. See the previous post for more information about the workshop. She has 2 excellent dvd's available from Cheap Joe's and you can see a YouTube preview for the portrait here, and for the floral here. This floral dvd is "so Janet" when you hear her say "That's boring. No, I don't like that" and it gives us new courage to quickly change our minds. Janet and her husband Steve are planning a painting trip to Italy and everyone in the class was interested in hearing about this fabulous trip. In my Art Journal this week (really September 22-24) you will see the "ABC project" designed by Karen Foster and Cindy Campbell, and still so new we don't have a sneak peek yet on the Canvas by Canvas web site. But note that we have about 14 new paintings at the Petroleum Club in Fort Worth. Click on the Paintings tab to read about each one. I've ordered books on Vista and I've enrolled in some of HP's free classes online. These are great classes, usually about 4 lessons long and if you don't have time to complete all of them, save the lessons on your hard drive, and review them later. There is a teacher and message board for students to meet and ask questions.
There is always some food involved in my journal and after eating again at Fish City Grill Arlington and trying a side dish of Cajun Red Beans and Rice I found a package of the small red beans at Albertsons, got out the crock pot and found my directions and experimented. The chef at Fish City had given me a few of the dried beans to carry in my pocket while I searched the grocery stores. My beans were not as tasty but I will cook on top of the stove next time and try some of their suggestions. I substituted some smoked Polish Kielbasa sausage for the Andouille sausage and the purists may cringe. I usually just stick with pinto beans (our Texas red beans) but these small red beans looked like a smaller cousin. Even Wikipedia has an entry for this Louisiana dish and it makes so much it is a great dish to share.

Janet Rogers Workshop ~ Art Journal Pages

This is the portrait I painted in the Janet Rogers workshop. I think the color could be better but I enjoyed the experience, meeting Janet and some new friends. It was held out in the country, quiet and secluded, with animals nearby. Russell Farm Art Center is in Burleson, located on a Texas Century Farm, and it's an organization of working artists dedicated to fine art, with an emphasis on wood sculpture. (Check Janet and Steve's website to find out about their workshop in Italy in 2009.) I took a SWA workshop with Steve Rogers last October. The painting was from a photo on Port Bolivar and now Port Bolivar has been nearly destroyed by Ike. There are other posts about the workshop.

Art Journal Pages:

I'm still on the "stuff organization", trying to get on friendly terms with my computer, and painted my Joe T's square for a CBC project. Other CBC members there were Betty, Cindy Y and Maryann.The workshop was for 3 days and we did a floral first and then the portrait. I drew off the beach scene but didn't get around to painting it as Janet kept us jumping. We had to laugh at her because she moved so much it was really difficult to get a good photo of her unless we just said "Stop. We need a photo." She was an excellent instructor and walked the room answering questions when it came time for us to paint - always an endearing quality in an instructor.

This is my Janet portrait in my Cason All Media Sketchbook. This week I've gone over my notes and have included some Janet "sayings". Practice your color swatches, why did I do that, I love Bounty paper towels, (which she held onto like a security blanket, under her arm), make puddles, make color changes, don't count flower petals, I believe in swatches, adjust water from the puddle edge, try things, don't be boring, "smoosch" your edges and from US, "Why do you paint with one eye closed?" She reminds us to draw, draw, draw and we love her drawings and especially the drawings and paintings of big, pouty lips.

Here is a slide show of some images taken during the 3 day workshop. Janet knows her medium and can explain it now for practice, and more practice.

Steve Rogers Workshop ~ Wednesday, Day 2 ~ Fort Worth, Texas ~ Myrna Wacknov

SEE SLIDE SHOW IN SEPARATE POST BELOW.
It definitely feels strange to be out on the Interstate by 8:15 a.m. fighting the traffic and today was not typical Texas weather at all. It was more like Seattle – cool, misty and a little foggy but any day is a good day when you’re on your way to a workshop. This is Day 2 of the Steve Rogers Workshop. Today Steve gave us his spin on color and complements and the demo was on painting reflections in water. He suggested we might want to lightly draw in our reflections and practice on a piece of scrap paper before actually painting on our work. If you'd like to see a list of materials and colors we are using, click HERE.
He told us about “The One-Hour Watercolorist” by Patrick Seslar. Patrick states “Plan your work, work your plan, and KISS (keep it simple)". (Click on my Amazon link to read more about the book.) Steve’s wife, Janet is included in the book and a painting of Steve’s similar to his Monday night demo is on page 90, St. Martin Beach and I had forgotten I had the book, but I did find stickies marking the page to return sometime. Janet has a portrait demo, Cassandra. Yes, I will take my book to get it autographed Thursday.
My painting: ½ sheet 300 lb. watercolor paper, 15x22, shows my wild sky and water. Now after looking at it on the computer I need to bring the horizon line down on the left and make it darker. I don’t think Steve has any competition from this artist.
I went to Joe T. Garcia’s after the workshop – my very favorite place to eat in the entire world with cheese enchiladas with all the trimmings and eaten on the beautiful patio garden. While sitting there I had great views to the left and right and the slides are included and looked over the day's painting notes.
Now to find another boat to paint for Thursday.
I’ve had a few minutes since I returned from Lubbock to check out a wonderful blog, Creativity Journey from Myrna Wacknov. I discovered her work in the October 2007 issue of the Watercolor Magic magazine. The article, Face Forward, shows how she uses color and expression for her poignant portraits. A bonus is the step-by-step guide that shows how to use Photoshop Elements with the portraits. Click HERE for the guide. She issues a drawing challenge each Friday and I've already ordered the drawing book she recommends and it's on the way. She issues a painting challenge at the beginning of each month. We have become “web/email” friends (someone should come up with a name of the online friends you have but have never met face to face) - what about I-Buds - and she posted an apple pie recipe in the Canvas by Canvas groups’ Artist Food Network. Great news for her and her fans is she was selected to be featured in the March 2008 issue on “Fabulous Artists over 60”. There were over 500 entries. Congrats, Myrna, way to go and I will be watching for the magazine.

Other blogs where I post:

· http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/
· http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com/
· http://myspace.com/nancystandlee
· TO VIEW MORE PAINTINGS OR PURCHASE: Go to Paypal on http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com/
· Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often