Lately I have been working again with shapes and value studies. I
was encouraged with the work of Pat Weaver. Her work is vibrant and it
is really amazing to watch her paint. Pat stresses that drawing good
shapes with good values is a major key to good paintings, many of which
she completes in less than an hour. I did my studies this week with and
without drawing in a time frame of 30 min. to two hours. Obviously I
have a long way to go. I try to push myself each day to paint or read
or attend workshops and classes. I do not have a fine arts degree nor
have I been painting all my life .However with my lifelong love of
crafts, sewing, rug hooking, window and mural painting, and now painting
in watercolor & acrylic, and oil since 1999, I am starting to see
some growth in my work. I have been teaching Beginning painting at a
retirement community in Fort Myers, Florida, for 5 years and I am
blessed to be a part of the Forth Myers Beach Art Association and also
to take further studies with Terry Shattuck at Lehigh Art League. I
have painted en' Plein Air a lot this summer and Fall with a great group
of painters and friends. And now I am teaching Beginners and
intermediate painters in various workshops at FMBAA. I just love it all!
My
advice to beginning painters is to look around you, open your eyes,
read art magazines and books, take classes and workshops...and most of
all HAVE SOME FUN! We are not all famous artists nor do our paintings
command high prices, but our friends and family love what we do and that
is all that matters. A special thanks to my husband, Jon Fox, who puts
up with a dining room counter full of framing supplies and a constant
changing panorama of easels with paintings in progress beside his TV. Who knows, I may finally get a good one after painting a couple hundred a year!
I continue to work at doing a blog but do not seem to keep it as
current as my entries on facebook. So, you may see me in both places. I
hope you can come along with me occasionally as I continue to progress
in my journey as a Passionate Painter.
Value study of 1948 photo: "BLUE NASH, MOTHER, & COUSINS"
A study of me, cousin Fred Williamson, and Mother Doris King.
