Art Journal 05-10-2021

First off, I just want to say a huge Happy Mother's Day to my mom. She's a fighter and I love her. I couldn't be with her when she got diagnosed with stage-1 cancer in 2020. Thankfully, my siblings all live closer than I do and were able to be there for her. I'm grateful for my mother, without her influence, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

Left to right: Shannon(niece) Mom(center), Christa(sister) and Me!

Note: I live in North Carolina and my family all live back in South Dakota. It's always been hard to get away to visit them during a normal year but super painful during lockdown in 2020.

To keep and stay busy, I thought I'd start a journal of sorts with my blog. Part art journal and part personal. After all, my art life and personal life are connected. Art is just another extension of me and one cannot exist without the other.

So, without further messing about....

February of 2020 (before the Covid lockdown).

R.L.Davis workshop: Building Complexity Through Simplicity

I taught my very first workshop. It was a blast! The workshop was about building complexity through simplicity. We painted a local church and tried using simple shapes to create the illusion of a complex scene. I loved every minute of it. The artists in attendance were just amazing and the work they produced was amazing.

August 2020 - December 2020. I wasn't idle throughout the rest of the year. In August and all the way through to December, I did get a chance to teach some in-person classes - fully masked and limited in number, of course.

August class: Watercolor Exploration I

Some beginner, some more experienced. We focused on techniques and the use of color. I'm very happy that everyone seemed to have had a great time and they were all eager to paint. I'm very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to share in my passion for watercolor.

Here are a few things we did during the classes.

Water lily with reflections

Warm and cool color study

Light and transparency

ocean waves

These are just a few of the subjects we tackled. There was so much to more paint and explore. We created textures, took a look at skin tone and perspective.

March 2021. During my latest class, in March, we just had a bit of fun with various subjects. We used only three colors in most cases and how we could create a range of colors within those three. We also used various textures in creating a chicken - so excited by everyone's creations.

Snowy landscapes

Playing with greens!

Night scenes

We had a fun time together and I hope to teach more soon. There's so much of watercolor to learn, to share and do!

Thanks for sharing in my thoughts and have a great week!

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