June 20 Workshop Demo

Great day out painting with my students today. The workshop went well and the weather actually improved, hour by hour. There was a plethora of subject matter from which to choose.

I did two more mini-demonstrations, but gave them to the students who said they needed them the most.

Ebb Tide at Livingston Bay

Plein Air Original Watercolor
8"x10"

Glad to have an opportunity to post this. I painted it on location, with Sylvia, Dianne and others in the area. It was one of four I did that day for the wclt.org plein air event and subsequent show.

At the time, I really didn't like it at all. It evidently ripened in the dark, because when I finally had the nerve to look at it again, I decided it deserved a chance afterall. That's the way it goes en plein air, though. Seldom, if ever, do we feel that we have captured the inspiration. It is to be hoped that the viewer adds their own unique memories and experience, so that between us we can regenerate the feeling of being there.

I will take this one to Gallery By the Bay in Stanwood, where you can see it in person and let me know what you think. The show opens on August 1. The place where it was painted is only a few miles away.

On Location for CWLT

On location on Camano Island

Here's why I haven't had an opportunity to post as many photos as I would like.

I've been out painting for the upcoming event for the Camano/Whidbey Island Land Trust.
See my Events page at www.michelecooper.com

Summer Studio Roses

We have been having the BEST weather the past two weeks! Great for catching up on gardening and for outdoor painting, of course.

These are the roses that students may remember from our trip to Giverny at the end of our workshop in France. We stayed at a B&B which was a house and property formerly owned by Claude Monet. He gave it to his stepdaughter as a wedding present. The path in his painting "Advance of the Wedding Party" is now the road in front where we parked. The landscape architect who lived there during our visit had planted a beautiful rose to climb over the main gate. He gave me the name and I ordered these to plant here at the corner of my studio.

Whether you were there, or just want to share some photos of our painting adventures, click here, for a walk down memory lane.

See the summer workshops we have planned this year in the column to the right. Note the one at Lavender Hills Farm, where participants are invited to the studio afterwards.

Glass & Lilacs

15"x22"
Original Watercolor

Here is a section from one of my paintings of the lilacs that grow all along the edge of our deck. They're all "white" (I have a blue and white garden in the back.)

This combines our last few classes, painting lilacs and painting glass.

Lilacs Print

Lilacs from my print

The original is sold and all I have left is a print, but I trust this will give my students an example of painting these white flowers in watercolor.

It's all about the light.

A Slice of the Artist's Life

Study of lemon slice

Most of my painting time is taken up with teaching composition the last few weeks. Working out the compositions, shopping for fresh replacements of eggs, fruit, etc. ....and hauling everything to and from class....exhausting! Well worth the personal discoveries I see my students making, though.

This still-wet study is approximately life size of the actual lemon slice. I think, to explore the subtle color variations, you need enough room for your brush to make a color statement.

Fingernail sized fruit, flowers, vegetables, etc. fail to entertain.

PaWa Saturday

Well, today I went to the tulip fields to paint with my colleagues in Plein Air Painters of Washington. I saw some other painters out there, and I know we were supposed to meet at noon at Roozengarde, but the light was just what I wanted here at 11:00 am and I had to stay. I actually finished in about an hour.

So many bystanders stopped to chat, take photos and ask directions to Tulip Town that I didn't make it into Roozengarde until 12:45. There were so many tourists there, swarming the parking lot and grounds, that my $4 entry fee was wasted. I didn't recognize anyone in the dining tent so I just went home. Next time, I'll follow my own advice and wait to go on a week day to avoid the crowds.

The good thing is: I went sketch hunting and I caught a good one!

Through the storm

Went to the tulip (or should I say daffodil?) fields after class in Kirkland today......through two major squalls and quite a strong wind out on the flats. Got there about 2:48 pm.

I was looking forward to painting with my friends from PaWa, but I could barely keep my car door open in the wind. So I just went photo sketching and will use this for future studio painting. I'll try again tomorrow.

That's what happens sometimes when you go "sketch hunting".....sometimes you miss!

Grape Hyacinths

From the sketchbook

Looking out the studio window on a (finally!) sunny morning, I can see spring bulbs producing their blooms.

In the middle of the dirt, surrounded by cold air and weak sunshine, my plantings of 4 years ago persevere.

Here's the haiku I wrote to inspire the sketch:

Spring quotes the painter,
"When in doubt, paint purple."
Up come hyacinths!