Finishing Up Where I Left Off...

Now that I'm home and coming out of a fog, I wanted to finish up where I left off which was Thursday at the workshop. By Friday, time seemed to speed up so much faster than the earlier part of the week - the day you try to shove in as much as you can, get to the places you missed. In New York City, there just isn't enough time in the day to get it all done - not even in a week.

So let me rewind ..... going back to Thursday. We had a longer studio day, planned perfectly because the clouds had moved in and we were ready to hole up and paint, especially after spending the past afternoons out in the city photographing in the sunshine.

I didn't have a planned demo that morning - what happened was one of the artists had worked on a piece Wednesday and by Thursday morning she wasn't pleased with the painting, asked me if she should wipe it and start over. That's a question we all ask ourselves at some point and it's really just a gut feeling if you should keep on or not. My gut said to keep on, and the demo was that I (reluctantly) took over and showed how you can sometimes repair what's not quite right. The photograph she used as her reference was fabulous to begin with - so I was pretty sure it was well worth a try - and I give her a lot of the credit, for that and the ground work she provided, which, with some minor changes, made for a nice painting in the end.

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Friday was our last day together, we still were all very eager to keep painting - here is the demo I painted that morning, an example of how to enjoy a more quick, spontaneous session, not fussing over the unneeded details of a scene.

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Also realizing I did not include Monday's demo, because I hadn't been able to get a good image for you to see - I waited until I got back home and got a much better shot in my own lighting, as well as the others you see above. I brought all the demos home with me, feeling sure I could touch them up if the paint smeared, varnish them and get them back to their rightful owners, safe and sound. Here is the Monday demo .....

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The only regrets I have, now that the workshop is over, is I didn't get the chance to photograph everyone's finished paintings - and I didn't get a group photo of all of us. Next time, I'll be sure to do that. Other than that, I think it was a great experience for all of us - my right-hand man, Vince Fazio, was extremely helpful and vital to the great flow of the week and I'm happy to know he'll be assisting in the same manner with the upcoming workshops, both in Hilton Head and New York next May.

As I was driving home Saturday, I almost wished I could do it all over again. Great group of artists, all very talented, warm and fun to paint with. Thanks to all who spent the week with me, I am grateful for the experience. This last camera shot was on the highway north of Asheville, North Carolina - a breathtaking, scenic drive - seemingly a million miles away from the frantic world that I left that morning.