I was teaching a workshop with Oak Hollow Studios in Carthage, North Carolina this week. The class went well, and the weather cooperated, thankfully. Spring workshops can always be a bit risky.
Here are a few of the paintings I did during my free time:
Canoe, Backlit. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
Canoe Backlit #2. 11 x 14 in., oil on linen.
It was very, very green. March and April are months I often skip working outside as the bright greens of Spring can be a bit much. Small vignettes can work well though. And sometimes it’s just fun to really hit those acid greens.
Here are a couple of images and a short video from the plein air landscape painting course I did in the little village of Les Plans above Bex in Switzerland.
I was teaching solo and didn’t get a ton of my own work done. That said, it’s a great little spot for painting as there is a ton of diverse subject matter in such a short distance from the hotel where we stay.
Cows by a Barn, Switzerland. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Above Les Plans. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.
We’ll perhaps to do another course next summer as well. And we discussed an ‘extreme plein air’ course in the winter, with snowboards, where the students have to sign a gazillion waivers protecting us from responsibility when they die. Stay tuned for more information.
I tried to film a painting demo but was drowned out by the cowbells, here is the first fifteen minutes where I discuss selecting a view and setting up:
Below is a video of a band that played at our hotel called Le Sirop D’la Rue. I thought I would throw in a plug for them as the music was great:
On the way home to Zagreb we stopped in the small Italian town of Chioggia, on the southern end of the Venetian lagoon. Edgar Payne did some beautiful paintings there in the 1920s and I had always wanted to see it. The orange sails are mostly gone (we saw a couple), but it’s an amazingly picturesque little town for painters. It has three canals, like Venice, but two are ‘working’ canals, full of fishing boats and the whole place has a terrific amount of varying subject matter in a very small area. There are cars in the town too, so you can park in front of your hotel.
Cafe in Chioggia. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.
Fishing Boats, Chioggia. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
