In reviewing my experience with the workshops I’ve taken from Frank Webb and Ron Ranson, Birgit O’Connor, and Vinita Pappas, I feel the while seeing an artist demo in person is of real value, most learning comes from good painting videos and books and from ongoing painting instruction. Most important, though, is daily practice of [...]
In an impulsive moment (why are we not surprised?), I called Birgit O’Connor (nationally renowned watercolor artist) to ask if she’d consider doing a workshop in Trinity County (fully expecting her to laugh politely and decline). I was bowled over when she agreed. We had dinner in Redding in January, where she was doing [...]
I’m starting a new format for watercolor instruction in 2010. Classes will be in a workshop format. On the first Monday of each month, I will demo a topic. Students will create their own paintings using this technique and bring them for critique on the third Monday. This format will offer more flexibility for those [...]
I have until this year been reluctant to enter juried shows. Though I preach disregard for public opinion to students, I am very sensitive about criticism of my own art…less so than in early years (I’ve gained more skillfulness), but still sensitive enough.
This year I entered the Small Paintings juried show of the North Valley [...]
One of the highlights of our 3 ½ month camper trip around the United States (a tour of Civil War battlefields…my husband John is a history buff) was getting to see the National Gallery. Walking into the first room was like going to art heaven…here in real life were the paintings I’d studied, Giotto’s Madonna [...]
My husband John has written a play! I designed the costumes and painted the sets. Here’s the press release on his play, which was performed in our small mountain town:
Victorian novelist George Meredith’s masterpiece, The Egoist, is brought to life in a stage adaptation to be produced by The Trinity Players of Weaverville. A three-act [...]
What is more wonderful than a daughter who is a friend and colleague in your art journey? I’m so lucky that Jessica, my daughter and friend, shares the art journey with me. She is a talented visual artist, writer, and art historian. And she’s now sharing the teaching journey with me too, getting her M.A. [...]
In the last eight years, my husband John and I have not only rediscovered Delta blues but also started our own blues group, Mountain Mojo. We play at Art Cruise events in Weaverville, soon appearing at the Main Street Gallery October 18! Our first debut was at the Shasta Blues Society jam night in Redding, [...]
Yes, we have a vibrant and active watercolorist community in Trinity County, our tiny mountain haven in northern California. Who’d think we would? We have the lowest population of any county in California. In fact, we are nothing like the rest of California (and don’t want to be). Meaning, there are no stoplights or parking [...]
At the end of my first art class in high school, my art teacher, whom I admired greatly, told me he expected I would go on to college and paint paintings that were “really something…not just pictures for coffee table books.” I wasn’t sure what was wrong with coffee table art, but I assumed it [...]
