Preparing for an 'Open Studio' workshop in August

I don't know where the time is going - and I just don't seem to have enough to do all things I want to do (versus 'have' to do)!

The workshop with Brian Atyeo was wonderful. I will do a short writeup as soon as I go through my notes and photos. Brian is coming back to the Calgary area the end of August and I was fortunate to get the last available space. He will be doing a 5 day workshop at the beautiful River Rock Studio near Cochrane, Alberta. It will be an open studio workshop - lots and lots of painting in a small group (12 participants) with daily discussion and critiques. I have started thinking about what I would like to paint and doing some research into my subject. This was suggested by Brian - you don't want to show up without some ideas and pre-planning. The subject I want to explore is 'abstracted/interpretive landscapes'. I am leaning towards the prairies - uncultivated native grasslands and cultivated 'scapes' - although I think the Foothills will probably appear as well. I will be working large - again at Brian's suggestion....30"X30" and larger! Now that is a little scary, but could also be very freeing. I will be starting a journal filled with sketches, small landscape studies, colour swatches and some favourite artist's thoughts on painting and subject matter. I am a bit of a research junkie so this will be right up my alley. I am looking forward to lots of painting between now and the workshop and at least a couple of trips to the prairie grasslands. I will leave you with some inspiration from some of my favourite artists.



**These paintings are done by the artists listed under the images**

*Kurt Jackson*

*Richard Diebenkorn*

*Barbara Rae*

Workshop: Abstracted Still Life with Brian Atyeo

*Brian Atyeo

*All artwork is by Brian Atyeo

I am very excited to be attending Canadian artist Brian Atyeo's workshop in Calgary next week. I have attended two of his workshops and have learned so much! I am using more layers of paint, mixing and using more neutral colours, designing better compositions and becoming more confident in my painting. I am starting to understand the principles & elements of design and slowly but surely applying them to my painting. How can you not like that!

The subject for this workshop is Abstracted Still Life in acrylic and collage. '.....layering of paint and collage paper will be the prime focus of this workshop.' I am looking forward to being inspired by Brian's painting and the other participants and I will be seeing painting friends that I don't get to see as often as I would like.

You can read a complete description of the workshop here.

I will post a short write-up of the workshop after the dust has settled or the paint has dried! Happy painting to you!

Here are a few more of Brian Atyeo's paintings...

*Brian Atyeo

*Brian Atyeo

*Brian Atyeo

Painting - Brian Atyeo Workshop

Have been so busy with 'art' and haven't had time to post. Would consider that a good thing. I was at  Brian Atyeo's workshop in Calgary the beginning of April (April 2-5). The workshop was hosted by Leading Edge Art Workshops' - if you live in the area they offer great workshops with great instructors!

This is the second workshop I have taken with Brian Atyeo (hope to have the opportunity to participate in more!) and this one was right up my alley. 'Layers of design in acrylic and mixed media'. Lots of layering of paint as well as removal - scratching in with palette knives & x-acto knives. Adding line with crayon, graphite, etc - just about anything you want to experiment with. It isn't just a 'free for all' - it is about responding to marks made and challenging the emerging composition. Nothing is preplanned and instead it is the use of imagination and allowing the evolution of the process to take its' course. Below are some of the images created during the workshop and a couple that are still in the 'process'. I appreciate any comments and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask! Am very excited with the work started in this workshop and as we speak am working on more images in a study format to develop into more finished works! Happy creating to you all!

16"X12"
work in progress!

12"X12"
Considered this finished, but..can't you see this 'large'!!
Stay tuned for a larger version

12"X12"

8"X8"

For a long, long time I have had a vision/idea of how I see the landscape around me - not every blade of grass or leaf on the tree, but shape, lights and darks and colour. This is a real break through for me to create these images and to celebrate them realized!

18"X14"
Work in progress

Started this in the workshop and have been working on it at home. Apologies for the picture quality!! Will post a better image once finished. I am really enjoying the painting process as I work on this image. This reminds me of the view to the west from the top of our hill - one that I never get tired of looking at. 

Will post some of my work from my '100 Drawings on Cheap Paper' workshop with Jane Davies in my next post - just not enough time!! In the meantime happy creating to you all.