Nancy Colellas class

I took a "back to basics" class with Nancy Colella at the South Shore Art Center.on Cohasset. I learned a lot about  values and painting- something I do struggle with. Nancy is a great teacher! Very organized, lots of clear information and handouts . She is funny too! Each week had a different theme.  She gives demos at  every class. It was so fun to meet the other students and we all had a blast!


Week one- still life- painting in the darks first. ( I was using acrylics.)

Week two- painting from photos- again- seeing all the dark shapes and laying them in right away.

Nancy taught us about what photos work best for paintings- she took this one.

( I missed a week when I was away)

Week three- we used our own photo( still working on this one- portrait of my kids)

Week four-

Again using her photo

On the last week we did"pattern " painting and used a still life set up as well as a photo of Nancy's poppies. The concept is to use flat color, strong outlines and no light and shadow.

We talked about Milton Avery and other western artist who used Japanese woodblock prints as inspiration.

I highly recommend this class to any level of painter.

I am still painting my gratitudes-but my commissions are taking president over them at the moment- and I am very grateful for the work!

Gratitude # 123 and Im demoing mosaic today!

My lilacs have already come and gone- that first smell of these flowers is like none other- I can't get enough of the heavenly scent.
We planted these when we bought our little house 21 years ago. Time flies!

This is the weekend of the North River Arts Festival in Marshfield Hills.

It may not be the brightest sunshiney weekend but no matter- there's music and food and lots of art and craft and photography to see! The juried show is awesome- lots of great art !

We New Englanders are a hardy bunch and the chowder and chili is delicious!

I'll be there (somewhere near the music!) working on my Amelia Earhart piece for the upcoming mosaic show at the Fuller Craft  Museum from 2-5. PM. Come say hi and break a piece of glass with me!

e!

gratitude #122

I love these flowers- they are from my husbands mothers mothers garden.
Flowers link us to our past.

Last weekend on Nantucket was a blast. 

We saw the coolest rainbow- circling the sun- apparently there were sightings of it in Marshfield as well!

Gratitude # 121

I love me my espresso.

I make it on the stove and froth my skim milk with my 2.99 Ikea frother.

My trick is- froth the milk in the mug cold (1 percent or skim works better for frothing)- microwave for 35 seconds and pour the espresso into the mug right over the milk.

heaven! Try to make a heart shape for a little extra lovin.

                                                      No need for a fancy machine here!

I'm still WAY too busy for words- with my commissions and work and other volunteer things. I've also been invited to be in an upcoming mosaic exhibit at the Fuller Museum. I want to try to keep painting my gratitudes however- I definitely missed the ritual and the thinking up of gratitudes..
I just have to make the paintings a little more simple to save time.

Gratitude #120

I'm in Nantucket . Never have been here before - and it is truly lovely.it looks like a movie set!

Gratitudes on Hold

I am very grateful for the three commissions I have- and all the stuff going on in my job-and yet overwhelmed.. I am going to have to put my gratitude project on hold for a while- I need to use my clear morning time to tackle the deadlines.
I'll post soon!
Sally

Gratitude # 119

Another rescued item from the barn sale.These little things help a lot when sewing...

not that I do much of that...

It was tough to see a few things leave the barn at the sale- but mostly it was joyful!

People love a good barn sale.

We still have items that we are getting values on- next sale is June 8. Then it's to the dump!