I'm back.... from my Carol Marine workshop!

It's pretty sad when I finally log into Blogger tonight and see that I had only one blog post in 2011. ONE! How does that even happen? Am I that busy that I can't spare a few minutes for a quick update? Truth is, I have been extremely busy this past year - so much has happened (all good, I assure you!) - but I promise to make a better effort this time. I hope :-)

But why now? What's motivating me this time? Well, I just got back from an amazing painting workshop in Toronto, ON, by one of my all-time favorite artists: Carol Marine. I've been an admirer of her work and her techniques for many years now, but her workshops always sell out so fast. After 3 years of trying to get in, I finally made it and it was worth all the wait. This might just be the push I needed to get myself in the studio on a more regular basis (and updating this blog!)

One of exercises she made us do was to take a simple object (I chose a pear), and to paint it in just 10-minutes. After time was up, we had to do it again - up to 4 times. The goal was to simplify our strokes, and really focus on seeing the bigger shapes, values, and colors. We actually were supposed to get better with each one, but as you can see I was clearly getting worse! Still... it was an amazing learning experience :-)

On a side note, I also owe you some updated studio pics!! I'm finally all moved in now and am loving the new space. Keep an eye out for those in the next week or so! :)