Easton Workshop
Somehow, another month has zoomed by and I don't have much to show for
it, but I've learned a lot. In early September,
I attended Qiang Huang's workshop in Easton MD.
What a wonderful town! It is on
the eastern shore and specializes in great food, art/artists and quaint shopping. I am still raving about the amazing food and
had so much fun with my fellow artist who recently moved there (KR you know who
you are!).
This blog is kinda long, so I'm going to start with the end and work my
way back to the start 'cause I want to show you what I'm learning.
Here's my first solo run with the workshop process after returning home. It's a big thing for me to put together a set
up as I believe it is an art form in itself.
I had one art teacher say she spent more time putting the setup together
than actually painting it. Uh, oh,
probably more to learn there too. This painting features two types of persimmons
- regular "flat" ones and a stunning orange "long" one
called a Fuyu. Google it if you need
more info - I just liked how orange and plump it looked. Kinda makes the regular persimmons a bit
bland though. Bottle on the right was
from our wonderful trip to Spain with an incredible olive oil. Bought it for the bottle, but the oil is astounding. Personally I can't believe I painted something with seven items in
it!!! Would love any and all comments. The technique is to have one highlighted
item and blur the rest. So in this one, the fat Fuyu is the highlight.
You decide, kinda complicated!
 |
| Pears and Persimmons |
Okay back to the start of this adventure. . . . .
It's true that the ridiculously scary Chesapeake Bay bridge wasn't as bad
as expected (as in expect THE absolute worst)!
You be the judge, here's how wiki describes it, "Because of its
height, the narrowness of the spans (there are no hard shoulders), the low
guardrails, and the frequency of high winds, it is known as one of the
scariest bridges not only in the USA but in the world." Huh? Seriously?
On top of that, I can't even begin to describe driving on the left-hand
span facing oncoming traffic with NO barrier.
This is a little trick they use to manage the volume of traffic headed
to the eastern shore. Survived it twice
and willing to do so again 'cause Easton is so wonderful ;-)
Here's a pic of the beast.
Qiang has a five step "method" and complicated set ups, but it
got me back into painting on canvas and working with a lot of different dimensions
in the same painting. On the second day,
Qiang demoed his first stage then we would try it out on our own setups, then demoed stage
2 - we try - repeat to stage 5. An excellent
way to learn his method and wish we had more time to practice and get his personal
guidance. Here's his demo and my run at the
process. Hmmmm. . . . more to learn.
Qiang Huang - Easton Demo Day 2
My stab at it - Inspired, so hoping to paint more - maybe a combo of my former daily
painting and this more complicated, yet intriguing venue!
Enjoy, life is joy we make one moment at a time,
Johnna
