MARY GARRISH WORKSHOP

Mary is a delight!!! Very personable and knowledgeable but can she teach? 

Yes,  I taught high school for 30 years and I feel I know a good teacher when I see one in action. Mary had concise handouts which outlined her thought process so when we hit mental overload we could reread the concepts. She came prepared having pre-painted studies to visually show the techniques she was demonstrating .
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So much to teach, so little time!

Look at her plein air equipment and palette. 

Final painting showing the "how to" stages.

     Mary put us at ease by stating we are not going to finish a painting, we are not going for master piece, we are doing a series of studies just for the sake of learning.

I always feel under the gun when at a workshop and my painting results show it but I always learn!

Day 1: We were in the classroom for the morning watching and listening to Mary demonstrating how to paint a sky/water scene that she had done on sight the day before. She showed the paints that she uses ($$$) and gave us their web site.              Don't buy jewelry....buy paint.
She also recommended 3 books that she feels strongly about. I have the middle one.

Suggested books and information on the brand of paint that she uses.

     I have so much to write that I will break it up into a daily journal with days 1-3. 

Look for my next two blogs.....please.

NEVER SEEN PAINTINGS

LILY POND

     Did you ever have a painting come together so well that you can not bear to part with it. Here are two of my favorites that hang on my living room wall.

These exemplify my signature style of watercolor paintings layered with Japanese rice papers.

Both of these paintings were inspired from painting plein air at Heathcote Botanical Gardens. It was one of those beautiful days where the stars were all aligned and two paintings just flowed from me.

BONSAI TREE

WHIMSY OVER THE EDGE?

                                        I really need an honest opinion.

Are the following mixed media creations too far off of the artistic chart?
I had fun making them so maybe that answers my question but I would like to hear from you.

DOROTHY'S SHOES

I took a workshop where we learned silk screen print making.  I carved a funky shoe print block, printed it and then embellished it with hand dyed Viva paper towels, ribbon and buttons.
I like it; silly me.

I went for a second printing and decorated it differently. Here I did the shoes with marbled rice papers and some hand made paste papers that I make in another workshop adventure. Now these shoes are for the Wicked Witch of the West. Click your silver heals.

BLUE SHOES

The last silk screen print was a straight forward printing which shows the cut outs that I had created on the block print.

YELLOW SHOES

If the truth be known, I just want to hear from someone so I don't feel like I am talking to myself all the time. My dog can only listen to just so much!

Please check out my art work on DAILYPAINTWORKS.COM

A GIFT FOR JANE

Jane is my hair dresser and she loves her grandkids  a whole bunch. 

She asked me to paint her girls in this cute pose. 

The first painting I did for her was an acrylic of the girls when they were babies and this one is a watercolor of how much they have grown.

LOCAL ARTIST LANDS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF A LOCAL NEWSPAPER!

Not to worry......I didn't do anything illegal, immoral or fattening. I just showed up for my normal weekly session of plein air painting and ended up on the front page of the newspaper the next day. 

A young woman with a big camera walked up to introduce herself and ask if she could photograph my set up and me painting. I'm not the center of the universe so I thought no one would ever see the pics plus I was really enjoying the weather, my fellow plein air painters and just the whole experience.

Next; buy a lottery ticket.