Elizabeth Reed - Trouvaille (Something lovely found by chance)

Lately, I have been working on portraits and figures. Confidence comes from practice. Always looking to push myself into different methods of describing form and feeling.  Cool Artists of the Week Chris Stevens Look how he challenges you with the placement of his images. The use of differing perspectives draws your attention. His experience and technical ability is complemented by great design. Mark Karnes Master of ink washes and draws like a painter. Look carefully at how he manipulates edges and shadows in his drawings. Karnes suggests reality - like a poem. Kathleen Dunphy I am in awe of this huge body of work from life. Dunphy paints from life - outdoors - in all weather.  Strong design and wonderful sense of color. Douglas McDougall Detail with imagination! Elisabetta Tevisan Magic! This is the last week of the term at Boca Museum School. I hope to see you all next term! 

Every month a group of respected artists/friends meet for "Critique group" This Sunday, the word of the afternoon was "destroy it! I'm bored!" How do we artists push ourselves to think differently? "Release yourself from yourself," Steve Assael I guess my aching arm, back and hand are trying to tell me to  "step away from the painting." Friday, I took my few painting students to the Boca Raton Museum of Art First, we wandered through Frederico Uribe's incredible installation He was awarded a grant from puma shoe company Created an entire rainforest from partially completed PUMA shoes IT IS A MUST SEE! Very refreshing, clever and fun. Frederico Uribe   Really look at how he found similar shapes He saw flowers in plumbing parts, wings in artificial nails. Here is an artist who thinks! Don't miss this exhibit! It will be leaving in early November. Juan Bautista Nieto  Unbelievable  Stunning...

We're off to the Museum Friday after class!  Cool artists of the week.... Robert Liberace   Look at his pen and ink work as well as the beautiful portraits. Stunning figurative work. Check out his workshops! Karin Jurick OK, students! Check out "Museum Patrons" You are all invited to the Boca Museum of Art on Friday afternoon. Meet me at the museum after our afternoon class. Hurry - closing at 5 pm. Amanda Clyne   Incredibly interesting paintings. Connor Harrington  Spray paint and oils. Some on buildings, some in studio. Unusual for this medium - very well done. David Cheifetz  Knows his color! Luscious across the board.

Finally, a grouping of 12 pieces on my studio wall.  My dear friend, Amanda Miles, gave me a book by Anne Morrow Lindberg called "A Gift from the Sea." In the 1950's, Lindberg took a sabbatical from being the matriarch of a large family. She spent time in a beach cottage at Sanibel Island, FL. Her introspective time away from her family ultimately led her to compare the shapes of sea shells to passages of life as a woman and mother.  My imaginary shells were inspired from three words Lindberg used to connect the shells to motherhood. As you walk down the beach, you will notice that eroded shells were once cradles, shield and vessels. Inevitably, nearby will lie a piece of plastic that is almost untouched by the weather. Both elements are "discarded." Their purpose, somewhat like the seasons of a woman's role as a wife and mother, has changed. The connections between the function of the worn plastic and shell shapes inspired these compositions.  Th...

I hope you all had a relaxing summer. New classes starting on September 7th!  The Boca Raton Museum of Art School 801 West Palmetto Park Road Boca Raton, FL 33486  Call to make a reservation 561.392.2503 check out the new online catalogue The Boca Raton Museum School Class Scheule 2011-12 2.20 DRAWING FOUNDATIONS; LEARNING TO SEE Wednesdays 9 - noon Beginners Fall in love with drawing. You will learn to see like an artist. I introduce the elements and principles of design and visual perception. You will learn about line, value, perspective and composition. This class is designed to change the way you look at the world and at art. Great music - very meditative. 2.32 SEEING - KNOWING - DRAWING Intermediate - Advanced Wednesdays 12:30 - 3:30 This class will stress principles (how we manipulate the elements) of drawing. You will create finished pieces and may also work on your personal projects. We will experiment with materials and push the rende...

I will be flying to NYC tomorrow morning to attend Steven Assael's figure painting workshop So .... Classes will be rescheduled in the next week I will be returning for May 24th class at the Boca School. May 31 is the first day of the summer term Classes are month to month  I will be teaching at Boca Raton Museum School this summer The Expressive Portrait on Thursday mornings 9 - 12 Experimental Painting techniques Thursdays 12:30 - 3:30  Painting all day on Fridays.  I will also teach drawing and portfolio building at Coral Springs MoA Saturdays 10 - 3. Cool artists of the week Jaume Plensa Damian Loeb, photo realist Jamie Adams Look how the drawing style translates into painting Lili Maglione Wonderful use of neutrals in her abstract paintings Ferdinand De Szyszlo Abstract Peruvian artist. Wonderful sense of color. See you all in one week!

Vesna will be our model tomorrow morning. Stressing the gesture under the details AGAIN!  Cool artists of the week: Stephen Early "to look is to think," Leonardo Da Vinci http://www.stephenearly.com/index.html Fred Dalkey http://www.paulthiebaudgallery.com/ Ryan Woodward (Look at his gestures!) http://www.ryanwoodwardart.com/index.html Boca Raton Museum of Art Painting Classes One pigment will be spotlighted each week Painting classes Beginning to Advanced Sept. 7 ONE LOVE Value - mono-chromatic painting and the power of underpainting. Anatomy of a shadow, grisalle and verdacchio. CADMIUM YELLOW LIGHT Sept. 14  THE SYMPHONY  Composition. - Origins and practice of the golden mean. Cezanne’s compositional tools CADMIUM ORANGE Sept. 21 MOODY DAY  Experiment with analaogous color palettes. Create moods and distance with color. Perspective 101 Cadmium Scarlet Sept. 28 OPPOSITES ATTRACT  Playing with the complements. Lovely semi-neutrals and ying - yang ba...

The model today will be the lovely Vesna. Please try to utilize the mirrors for an unusual composition opportunity. The space between the two images, her body and her reflection, is quite intriguing. Come enjoy a morning of meditation and drawing with great company and wonderful music. Cool Artists of the week: Thomas Dodd He is a photographer with a sensitivity towards the pre Raphaelites Absolutely stunning work. http://thomasdodd.com/index.html Scott Burdick and Susan Lyon Both painters and partners who travel the world looking for new subjects Check out their incredible travel journals! http://www.scottburdick.com/ Finnish painter Tina Heiska http://www.tiinaheiska.fi/index.html Lu Cong http://www.lucong.com/ Enjoy! Due to most of us traveling in the next month, Thursday classes have come to a halt until September.  Those of you who are traveling.... We miss you and hope you are enjoying the blog! Come back refreshed and ready to draw! ...

FEET! Finally, we will do a whole morning of feet. We will examine the basic shapes and anatomy. Feet are the grounding of the action from the hips Just a small suggestion - an impression of the heel  A little goes a long way. Footless figures are really apparitions - floating in space. The model, world traveler, Phil! Cool art for you this week. Daily painters web site Feet http://www.dailypainters.com/paintings/tag/feet Painter's feet around the world -fun! http://www.letscolourproject.com/blog/2010/05/painters-feet-around-the-world/ Duane Keiser He started the "Painting a day" phenomena He has 1000 tiny paintings Auctions them on ebay and sells quite well Very talented painter not just feet http://www.duanekeiser.com/ Just fun! http://www.ipaintfeet.com/ Jen Rowlands Shoes! http://www.famousfeetpaintings.co.uk/index.html I hope you had a fun 4th of July! See you thursday.