This past week I was in Stowe, Vermont at the Helen Day Art Center with my mentoring workshop. We all worked in one big studio, individually, and then came together for group discussions, lunch, and occasional silliness. I offered one-on-one feedback and coaching to each participant, as needed, but also got inspiration and ideas from the group. It was a fabulously synergistic experience! I wish I had gotten more photos, but I was busy painting. Here are a few, though:
Part of my work space. We each got a 6 table and a 4x8 wall.
This is a bad view of the space itself. The 4x8 walls are moveable.
A piece from Leslie, after she discovered the technique of flinging house paint.
A sampling of Debbies work
A sampling of Rees work
After the flinging of house paint
"Green Acreage", one of my pieces I consider finished; 19.5"x25.5"
Another of my finished pieces, untitled, same size as above.
One more of my almost finished pieces. I can see that the bit in the upper left needs to be painted over.
I will be doing more mentoring workshops; this one was the first, kind of experimental. What makes a mentoring workshop different from a regular one is that each participant works independently. There is no instruction or assignments or demos, but I do give individual coaching and feedback. I work alongside the participants. The group has to be small - this one had eight participants, and that was about right. It was made up of people I had worked with before in workshops, and I knew to be capable of independent work.
I have two workshops scheduled at Helen Day this year :
Abstract Painting and Composition for Textile Artists; April 18 - 21, 2017
Big Fat Art, October 20 - 22, 2017
See them (and all of the spring workshops at Helen Day) here. Scroll down for specific workshops.
