Workshop Weekend & Snowy Egret

12" x 16" Watercolor

Another wonderful workshop weekend! This time it was Kathleen Noffsinger! And what fun! Since I'm fairly new at this painting stuff, I was like a sponge, just soaking it all up. Kathleen was so informative - and I truly learned a lot (not just how to paint like she does, but basic stuff that I'm sure most painters already know). However, a lot of the class were artists that have been painting for years, and everyone who was there learned something!

This painting, "Tree of Life" is an example of her work, and something that she demonstrated during our workshop. A lot of negative painting in this! (Sorry for the glare!)

She's an excellent instructor, as well as a very nice person. I'm really glad that I got to take this workshop! Here's a terrific quote she gave us by Jan Phillips:

"To be an artist it is not necessary to make a living from our creations. Nor is it necessary to have work hanging in fine museums or the praise of critics... To be an artist it is necessary to live with our eyes wide open, to breathe in the colors of mountain and sky, to know the sound of leaves rustling, the smell of snow, the texture of bark. It is necessary to rub our hands all over life, to sing when and where we want, to take in every detail, and to jump when we get to the edge of the cliff. To be an artist is to notice every beautiful and tragic thing, to cry freely, to collect experience and shape it into forms that others can share."