Many thanks to our Spring juror and workshop instructor Betsy Dillard Stroud. The workshop challenged artists to use a variety of experimental materials. For those who usually work exclusively with watercolor, we were challenged to also work with acrylics. We were also challenged to work always on a full sheet of watercolor paper every day.
Day 1: “The Big Black Shape” painting! (acrylic abstract). We also carved our own personal stamps using a combination of symbols that represent our personal life journey and used these stamps on our paintings for this day and future days. This is the type of painting Betsy demonstrated in our UWS Member Meeting the next night.
Day 2: Watercolor abstract flowers or other design with focus on random shapes, stamping, and value to create interest.
Day 3: Matisse inspired paintings. (acrylic)
Day 4: Pouring (watercolor)
Day 5: Texture! Watercolor paintings using 300 lb full sheet watercolor paper that we had prepared a few days earlier with various texture materials.
The week was full of a variety of techniques, materials, and working large. Everyone had to stretch in some way to work outside our comfort zone and outside our usual way of working to try something new. Each artist left this week with some new ideas to add to our artistic toolboxes and hopefully some new things to incorporate into our own work!
