Daily Archive

We’ve put out a call to all BAGSC members that attended the ASBA conference to post their impressions and any images. We’ll post them as they arrive. Keep writing and reading. If you have any questions or comments about techniques, please post them by clicking on “leave a comment” at the top of this article. Feel free to ask participants to give a demonstration of what they learned at a BAGSC quarterly meeting.

It was an honor and a privilege to watch Lizzie Sanders and Jean Emmons work side by side during the techniques showcase session. Each worked with a gourd of the same colors for a subject. It was a study of contrasting different painting techniques, with brilliant and magnificent effect. Lizzie applied paint with very tiny strokes while molding the subject to perfection before moving on to an adjacent  small section. She uses a dry brush and doesn’t wash. The four basic colors were naples yellow, new gamboge, cad orange, and indigo all used in various combinations. For shadows she simply puts on more paint. The result was a rich and articulate color that gave form and luminosity. Jean painted her gourd from a butcher tray palette loaded with tiny spots of colorful paint.  She likes Holbein paint with a little white in the formula and the Daniel Smith quinacridone color series among other paints. Jean uses optical mixing and impressionist color theory creating 20 to 40 washes of mostly transparent colors. A bright and radiant gourd began to emerge from the surface of her bristol board.  Here were two highly accomplished master artists simultaneously demonstrating two very unique approaches to the same  subject. It was fascinating to watch them work.

I took Elaine Searle’s classes called Succulents in Watercolor and  also her class Painting White Flowers in Watercolor.  She was a wonderful teacher giving loads of individual attention and encouraged us to relax, to experiment and to paint without feeling the pressure of a performance. The classes were filled with technique direction, demonstrations, exercises, useful tips, and helpful answers to any question. Her handouts gave colorful illustrations of how to formulate a painting once home. I would highly recommend Elaine for  any future workshop and hope to take a class from her again.

We’ve put out a call to all BAGSC members that attended the ASBA conference to post their impressions and any images. We’ll post them as they arrive. Keep writing and reading. If you have any questions or comments about techniques, please post them by clicking on “leave a comment” at the top of this article. Feel free to ask participants to give a demonstration of what they learned at a BAGSC quarterly meeting.

Chihuly glass plants at the Desert Botanical Gardens, photo by Arillyn Moran-Lawrence.

The  ASBA conference in Scottsdale, AZ, was my first and I was very impressed.  Everything was very well organized and ran smoothly, except for one bus that broke down on the way to the museum exhibition. From the portfolio sharing, the luncheon meeting, the Legacy gallery show, the Techniques Showcase, the Phoenix Art Museum exhibition and the creative hors d’oeuvres and dessert that was  presented by the museum, all were exceptionally well done.

The workshop that Elaine Hultgren presented was “The Illuminated Desert”. Prior to the workshop, I learned about sources while purchasing many intriguing items from a NY company. I traveled with my expensive piece of vellum and small dab of 24k gold right next to my side. We chose a desert flower, then a capital letter style relating to  the genus of the flower and sent that information on to Elaine. On arrival she had prepared a portfolio for each of us so that we could begin work immediately. We designed the desert flower design around the chosen letter and transfered it to the vellum. We learned to make “skins” of paint to use in painting on the vellum, how to apply  the gold and burnish it, and how to draw a ” line” of gold. The workshop was only 7 hours long and most of us did not finish the   project, however Elaine has asked us for our finished illumination and she will then send us a slideshow of all of our work.

Portfolio Sharing. Kelly Leahy Redding, her framed vellums and her Artist in Residence Book from her trip to Italy. Photo by Arillyn Moran-Lawrence.

M. Alice Rezende, Brazilian recipient of a Margaret Mee Fellowship to paint endangered species in the Amazon. Shown with Jenevora Searight, from England, who lived in Brazil for 30 years and worked with Margaret Mee. Photo by Arillyn Moran-Lawrence.

Jean Emmons fascinating work on vellum. Photo by Arillyn Moran-Lawrence.