Beyond the Turquoise Door

Is anyone tired of seeing this photo of the turquoise door?? Because this is probably the 5th time I've posted it, in one place or another. But it symbolizes so much! Beyond this door is the artist studio of La Bonne Etoile in France, where we spent blissful hours learning the amazing pastel painting methods taught by the great Margaret Dyer! 

We started off our first night in the studio with a demo from Margaret, shown in progress here. Her process is so unique, with emphasis on value and the layering of warm and cool colors to give a vibrant, energized effect.

Our beautiful model sat for us for several days and we usually painted one pose in the morning and one in the afternoon. For me that meant working much faster than I was used to and so my paintings didn't feel very accomplished or complete. In the beginning this was so frustrating, but then I began to realize  that I was there to learn the process, not to turn out polished paintings.

It was so exciting to see the beautiful work appear day after day. We had some really amazing artists in our group. 

As paintings were finished we clipped them to a wire overhead. After about a week, there were so many paintings hung that you couldn't find a spot anymore! It was a beautiful sight.

Jane hard at work. She created some beautiful paintings while we were there.

In addition to our paintings of our model in the studio, we also had some photo shoots in the garden and  the house, using ourselves as models. This is one I did of our young resident assistant, Kathleen, hanging laundry. Btw, all laundry done at La Bonne Etoile was hung on the clothesline to dry, which was so fabulous! It smelled so good! (I just realized I've already put this one up as my blog cover photo... I guess you'll have to see it twice.)

And I am proud and honored to say I now own this one that Margaret painted of us (Margaret and me) at the piano. We had a photo shoot where we donned robes and I pretended to play while Margaret  enjoyed my imaginary talent. I could not resist buying the painting. AND I bought another one she painted while in the studio, shown below.

I had to have this painting by Margaret Dyer, not only because I think it's breathtaking, but because it is such a beautiful example of what she achieves in the skin of her nudes. Her method results in the most beautiful colors coming through on the skin, the drape, sheets, everything. I will forever have this as a wonderful reference, not to mention a memory of my week studying with Margaret.

Here's one of mine. Eek! I must be nuts to post this following Margaret's.

Love this! Four artists in a row, painting with focus!

Check out all the hung paintings. That's just one wire ... there were several.

One more of mine, painted on the last day in the studio.

Next up: our Vernissage, which was the party where all of our work was displayed and friends and neighbors came to see! Stay tuned ........

Bonjour, France!

Nope. I wasn't able to blog from France after all. Access to wifi was limited and time was even more so. We were busy, busy, busy with painting both in the studio and en plein air, touring charming villages and amazing museums, shopping at the local brocantes and oui, oui ... eating lots of beautiful French food.

So I'll play catch-up. This will be the first of a series of posts I will write to share my fabulous experience. For those who may not be aware of my reasons for going to France, here's the thumbnail. My good friend, neighbor and fellow pastelist, Jane, and I decided that we MUST jump in on the great opportunity to study under the tutelage of award-winning and master pastelist, Margaret Dyer. She would be teaching this two week workshop at La Bonne Etoile in Fontaine-Fourche for the 5th year, I believe. Jane and I followed her daily blog posts from her workshop last year and we fell in love with the idea of it. So as soon as registration opened up last fall, we were the first two students to register for this year's workshop. Voilá!

Off we went to France on June 10. We were exhausted but exhilarated upon arrival. It was so beautiful there! The weather, the gardens, the food ...  all gorgeous! Day one in the studio was challenging but fun and so informative. Margaret Dyer is an amazing teacher. Enough words ... see for yourself!

Through these gates we found a wonderland waiting for us on the other side.

In the village of Fontaine-Fourche (east of Paris) is La Bonne Etoile, the magnificent home and artist retreat owned by Jerome and Kippy, the greatest hosts ever. The house and gardens are breathtaking!

This is the massive barn where the studio is located, right through that turquoise door and up the stairs.

Jane and I stayed in the gite (pronounced zheet) across the road from the main house. It was a charming little place that housed four of us. Jane and I were in the spacious upstairs bedroom with bath and there were two other ladies downstairs, where there was also a common kitchen and dining area.

 I couldn't resist taking a picture of our magnificent bathroom sink. We found most bathroom fixtures and faucets in France to be grand and beautiful.

We even had our own private garden at the gite. Here's Jane enjoying her morning coffee.

Here we are ... the fabulous artists and soon-to-be-friends attending Margaret's workshop. There were 12 of us, hailing from all over the place; New Jersey, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and three from Tasmania. Aka the Tasmaniacs. Which they are. We adore them. See Jerome, our fabulous French host, hiding amongst all those women!

Every night we were served a five course meal on this beautiful patio, lasting three hours from about 7:30 to 10:30. The food ... magnifique! I returned home with extra baggage ... and not in the suitcase!

Beyond the turquoise door lies the studio, where the magic happens. Next post: painting in the studio. Exactly what we came to do! Stay tuned!

Hailing! And not the icy kind.

One more post before heading off to France on Tuesday where I will be learning to paint figures in pastel (and more) under the tutelage of the amazing Margaret Dyer. Two weeks of painting plus some day excursions to Paris and other local places to break up the studio time! So very excited about this!

I'm going to try to blog from there but will be using my iPad instead of my computer for that, something I've not done before, so this post is kind of a test. Hopefully it will all work out and I'll be able to share photos and descriptions of the fabulous experience I'm about to have.

In the meantime, here is a painting I've almost finished of my daughter hailing a taxi in the rain in New York two weeks ago. Maybe just a tad more tweaking required. Suggestions are welcomed ... there are a few things about it that are still bothering me but sometimes I can't see what they are! Feel free to jump in.

Waiting ....

Many thanks to Rita Kirkman, pastelist fabuloso, who so generously offered up the use of some her great photos as references to some of us in a pastel workshop. She goes to various fairs and themed events and shoots unique and interesting photos. I've been especially smitten with this young prairie woman and the wonderful sunlight falling across her, and I just had to paint her. She seems to be watching and waiting anxiously for someone.

10x14 pastel

You can find Rita's website and amazing work here.

The Reluctant Model

I painted this portrait of Louis, aka Mr. Lou Grant, aka my husband's son ... er, dog ... and gave it to him for our 31st anniversary. Yup, 31 years.

So I finally got the boys together for a little photo shoot. Louis had some things to say about this.

Whadaya mean we're having a photo shoot? I got stuff to do.

Whaaa? THAT'S supposed to be me??? Yeah right.

Hmmph! I'm way more handsome than that! See?

Bleh! That's what I think of that painting.

When's dinner anyway?

I love you, man.

But that painting? Hideous.

Alright, alright. I'll pose exactly like in the painting.

Phhhhttt.


END OF PHOTO SHOOT.

Squeeze!

So I took my first big leap, submitting three paintings to the annual Austin Pastel Society juried exhibition. This ain't no big thang for most artists but for me it meant tying on my big girl artist's smock and taking the plunge.  Here are the three I ended up submitting .....

RIPE, 5 x 7 Pastel

TEXTING, 8 x 10 Pastel

SQUEEZE, 6 x 9 Pastel

.... and I'm so happy and honored to say that this last one, titled SQUEEZE, was accepted into the exhibition! Very excited! The exhibition will be at the Corridor of Art at 700 Lavaca St. in downtown Austin from March 2 to April 27. If you're in the Austin area, try to catch it. There will be so many amazing pastel paintings there!

Trés excited!

Let's face it ... I'm a crappy blogger.
I have the best intentions but look at this... almost four months since my last post!
My apologies, dear readers! (If you're still following!)

I'm just back from moving my mom into an independent living apartment in California, which she luuuuuuuuvs. So glad that worked out so well! Next up; clearing out her house of 31 years as it is currently in escrow and will close on Feb. 28.

But between now and then I'm about to embark on a paint-athon. The deadline for submissions to the Austin Pastel Society annual juried exhibition is Jan. 31 and EEK! I daresay that's right around the corner. I have a couple of paintings I could enter but I really wanted to have some new and improved, fresh work. So I'm crankin' it. Here is one I did after Christmas I'm considering entering, of my daughter cooking.

Annnnnd, I may also consider entering this one if I can clean up those messy taxis. Which I had to make up because there were no taxis in my New York reference photo, oddly enough. Which I never should have made up. I call it "Green Pants at 44th & 6th." I loved finding this green pants guy in my street scene photos when I came home from NYC and uploaded them!

But on to positively exciting news! I've registered for Margaret Dyer's 2 week pastel workshop in France this June! Along with my two other great pastel buddies, Katherine and Jane! We are over-the-moon excited! Trés excited!

Margaret Dyer during her demo at IAPS Convention, June 2013

I've been a huge admirer of Margaret's work for some time now but when I attended her figure painting demo last year at the IAPS convention I was swept away by her unique process. She whipped out that little beauty in the photo above in less than 2 hours. I can't wait to spend 2 weeks in the studio with her, absolutely steeping in instruction and inspiration! I believe this is her 4th year teaching at La Bonne Etoile, a wonderful artist's retreat in Fontaine-Fourches, not too far from Paris.

And this year they are arranging to take us to Provence to paint the last 4 days of the workshop! Lavender and sunflower fields! Fantastique! Breathtaking landscapes! Merveilleux!

I've got about 5 months to learn more French than that! But I'd better say au revoir for now and rush to the easel. Happy painting and happy 2014, everyone!