Winter Art Classes Over and Spring is Half-way Done

The Franklin Carmichael Group - Big House and Cottage Studio Behind.

Winter classes at VAM in Abstraction, Photos to Painting, Seniors' Centre Painting [all sorts of styles and levels], Private Art Classes in Oil and Acrylic, all went really well even though there seemed to be less students everywhere but the Senior Centre.  The new Photo to Painting class was successful and a few students have returned to continue their journey, subject by subject.  It seems the class must go at the pace of the student and some are working on one project per session, while others push through Portrait, Landscape and Interior projects.

Spring has brought less classes but new opportunities and commissions.  My Friday afternoon class was too small and next year they will reschedule it - as most Canadians love long weekends in late Spring.  The Photo to Painting class is evolving.  New students and new input.  Returning students are challenging themselves to new issues in portraiture, landscape or architectural images.  I continue to talk about structure of the painting and all the technical I can bring to the students to challenge them.  I am pleased that they are so bold as not to be driven by photo-realism - allowing themselves to just be more modern.  I was lucky to find some good examples of arts working outside of pure realism.  The Seniors' Centre and the Private School students have worked really hard and there have been some great breakthroughs.

This Spring, I received a commission from a past client for a large abstract.  I have already started but there are more ideas than canvas so I have begun perhaps another series...... I also have 2 oil paintings to do  - one for a summer wedding and another for a fall wedding.  Lots of pressure and lots of challenges.  It should be fun and hopefully some great paintings will happen.

I am looking forward to teaching at The Franklin Carmichael Group - in Rexdale, Ont. - this June.  It will be a Palette Knife Workshop.  They just had their Annual Open House - their 60th - and the place looked fantastic. The weather was wonderful but  I hope more come out to the Annual Art Show on the 24th - 26th of May.

Here are some samples of my students' work.

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