My adventures with Eucalyptus trees will have to wait. The past week I have been very focused on the above photo of an oak tree at the end of our road. Mount Tam looms in the background with a fairly rare covering of snow. Saturday I returned home after spending a wonderful, intensive and inspiring five days in a class with Sue Benner (www.SueBenner.com) and 23 amazing, creative and generous students down in Pacific Grove, at the Empty Spools Seminars. We did several small landscapes before attempting a larger one. My piece is definitely a work in progress as I need to add detail to the trunk and highlights and shadows to the greenery. “The Rock” in the foreground of the photo is known all over town and will be included in the final piece. I have a lot of design issues to solve but so far I like the direction I’m going. The class was simply amazing, with each student having a very different style yet achieving success. Sue gave us not only tips on our particular project, but shared books, art, design and value concepts and techniques in interpreting our photos and translating them in to fabric. If you ever get a chance to take a class from Sue, go for it.
On the last full day of the Landscape class, I started a new on-line Watercolor class with Jane LaFazio(www.JaneLaFazio.com). These classes continue to fascinate me and have become even more fun because I have made so many new “friends.” Check out my new page titled, “Watercolor Sketching: Designs from Life.” I hope to post at least a few paintings a week. Happy April.
