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Watercolor Journeys at Art & Soul, Portland 2010

Watercolor Journeys at Art & Soul, Portland 2010

Colorful Daisies, Students Work
Colorful Daisies, Students Work

Many thanks to all my wonderful new and returning students that attended my Watercolor Journeys, Inspirations from Travel’s class at the Portland Art & Soul Retreat 2010.  Your paintings turned out wonderfully beautiful and colorful.   No muddy colors here!  It was nice to meet everyone, especially those of you who travel so far:  Lynn from Cleveland, Denise and Lori from CA, Carol and Rosemary from WA and all the others from the Portland area: Lisia, Danielle, Tracey, Joyce, Mary & Carolyn.  Many of you were brand new to watercolor and I hope you enjoyed your introduction to painting.

Getting Ready for the Portland Art & Soul Retreat 2010

Getting Ready for the Portland Art & Soul Retreat 2010

One of my favorite things that I do when I get ready to teach my Watercolor Journeys, Inspirations from Travel Class, is to put together watercolor goody bags for each student.  They are filled with art prompts and useful items for creating art in your journals.  There are still a few spots available in this class if you would like to sign up!  If you live in the Bend area, I am teaching a similar class at Arts Central, called Watercolor and Mixed Media for the Traveling Artist.

Demonstration at Bend’s Fall Art Hop: October 1, 2010

Demonstration at Bend’s Fall Art Hop: October 1, 2010

What a beautiful evening it is going to be in Bend.  The weather is warm but autumn is in the air and the trees are showing their fall colors.  I am packing my car with new paintings, prints, cards and new jewelry and a few supplies to set up a watercolor demonstration at the Birkenstock Store.  I will have some examples of what I will be teaching in my upcoming class at Central Oregon’s Art Central.  Come by and see what is new!

It was a Beautiful Day, A Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

It was a Beautiful Day, A Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

My brother, sister-in-law, friend and I were exploring the little hilltop villages of Provence, France last September.  We stopped in the town of Segûret.  The sun was shining, the ochre-colored walls were glowing and the shadows were filled with colorful light.  Every little corner was a painting waiting to happen.  Here is my journal painting of Segûret.  The design on the wall is a note about the ripe, delicious figs that I would find lying on the ground.  We don’t get figs like this in Oregon.  Have you ever had the chance to pick figs ripe off of the tree?
Strolling on a Sunny Day
Mt Hood with Lavender Fields, a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Mt Hood with Lavender Fields, a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Mt. Hood with Lavender Fields

Here is a page from one of my larger journals.  I use the Arches Field Watercolor book.  It comes in 2 sizes (10×7 inches or 14×10 inches)  I uses both sizes.   Here is a link for the journals at Dick Blick Art Supplies:  Journals.  Other stores carry them too.  I love these journals because they are filled with Arches fabulous 140 lb watercolor paper and hard bound with a spiral wire binding so that they lay flat when painting.

Painting Plein Air, Photos from our Hood River, Oregon Watercolor Trip, 2010

Painting Plein Air, Photos from our Hood River, Oregon Watercolor Trip, 2010

The weather was beautiful and the sunflowers were in full bloom.  We spent the day painting en plein air, which is the French term meaning, in the open air.  The impressionist artists of the late 1800s made this popular because of the invention of tube paint.  They no longer had to grid and mix their own paints with powders and linseed oil.  If you are ever in Paris, France, be sure to visit the Sennelier store where many Impressionist shopped.  It is much the same as it was in the 1800s!