Attending the Art Educators Institute at the New Hampshire Institute of Art was absolutely one of the best experiences I have had in a really long time. It was all about me as an artist and as an art educator. The institute took really good care of the 90 or so art teachers that were there. Food was good, I slept in the dorm, and managed to party just a bit when I wasn't in the art studio working.
My afternoon workshop was a Landscape Watercolor workshop taught by Eileen Greene. She is an excellent watercolorists with a strong background in color theory. We would begin our afternoons in the classroom for short lectures or demonstrations and then the Institute would shuttle us out past Lake Massabesic to the Audubon center. It was about 10 minutes from downtown Manchester. On the first day, Eileen toured us around the grounds. We were encouraged to stay on the mowed pathways in order to avoid the ticks. There was also a lot of poison ivy that I definitely wanted to avoid as well! I decided to set up at a small pond to do my initial painting. This first day we focused on a value study which I worked on in my sketchbook. Note to self: drawing paper behaves a lot differently than watercolor paper. We only had a short time to paint this first day and I was not too sure of myself when it was time to head back to town. I was taking the watercolor class because I am not very comfortable with watercolors and I need to improve as I am teaching watercolor to my Drawing & Painting 3-4 students this coming school year. This first session left me more confused than ever. Luckily, the next day began with some demonstrations that I found very helpful. Again I set up at the pond, but focused in on a different area where there was a cluster of 3 boulders. This painting is a result of 2-days work and I was rather pleased with the results. I probably should have left more white of the paper showing, plus I may have overworked the foliage a bit, but for a first attempt I thought it turned out decent.
With just one day left to paint, I decided to take a more casual approach to my next painting. This time I set up close to the Audubon Center where there was a rose bush intertwined with a wood rail fence. My goal was to start and finish a painting in the 3 hours we had to paint, which I managed to do. This painting has a lot less going on in it, which seems to work just fine. I even finished up with a bit of splattering over the painting. If I had more time, the painting might have ended up overworked. Again, more white of the paper should have been left showing. Regardless, I am rather pleased with the painting.
Every day of painting was a perfect day. The weather was warm, but not unbearable, especially when there was a breeze. There were soft billowy clouds in the sky, it was simply beautiful. I hated to leave. I am still wishing I was there, just to be outside painting. It is much too hot here in Phoenix to even think about going outside to paint. I guess I could set up a still life to paint, or even try a self-portrait in watercolor. I will have to think about those options.
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