Learn, learn, learn!

Quiet Calm, 2011, Jo-Ann Sanborn

Acrylic on Canvas, 24"x36"

available

The list of classes at the Marco Island Center for the Arts has been posted on their new website.  There's still a few kinks to work out, but you'll be able to see the options and to sign up right there!

I'll be leading a critique class in November.  I say leading, because that's what I really believe critique is about.  Critique is about options.

You may have painted the best possible painting, but along the way you've made choices.  Once choice leads to another, and sometimes the focus of the painting is lost as well.  We'll review the principles of art, and explore successful innovation.  We'll have fun, and talk a lot of art with plenty of time for painting, too.  There won't be instruction in any special medium so you can choose your own.  You can sign up for my critique class here. 

I'm really excited about the quality of some of the workshop instructors this year. 
One of my favorites is artist Dreama Tolle Perry.  She and her partner host the delightful radio talk show Artists Helping Artists, and she's the author of several books as well.  Dreama walked into my studio last year and used my clear over-the door- shoe holder turned paint storage as a hint for artists on her show!

Her work is colorful, cheerful, and heartwarming.  She'll be teaching a three day workshop on Marco Island in January.  You can sign up for her class either on the Art Center's website or from Dreama's workshop page.  In any case, sign up early as she will only take 15 students and many of her other locations have already sold out!
Continuing to learn is important to an artist, otherwise we get stale.

Think about expanding your horizons and challenging yourself with a class or workshop. You have something to look forward to, and you'll be pleased with the results!

Teaching, Sheltering Arms painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Sheltering Arms, by Jo-Ann Sanborn 2010
acrylic on canvas, 24"x36"

When you take an art class or a workshop, what do you expect to get out of it? That's one of the first questions I ask when starting a new class. It's a lot easier to meet people's expectations if you know what they want. Will you be expecting the teacher to shelter and guide you, or will you expect to work hard to gain knowledge the teacher has and you want to learn?

When I first started teaching, I wondered if I knew enough and would be able to offer enough to my students, but I found that I love to organize the material, and to teach in a sequential way. I like to present material so that students understand it, and then have them do some work to learn, and then looking at the results. I'm also a fan of handouts, so students have the material to recall and refresh.

Lately I've been teaching in short, two hour increments in four week sessions. Each session can stand alone. This is perfect for getting a concept or idea across. Students can take work home if they want, work on it during the week, and bring it back if there are questions.

I'll be teaching a class on Color Confidence at the Art League of Marco Island in January. It will start January 4, so all of you who are just coming back, or who might be away from Marco Island for the holidays may want to sign up before you go. We'll work hard to learn why color mixing is so hard and about color value and color temperature and why they are important. We'll have fun, but I know you'll learn a lot too.

If you're not interested in the hows and whys, and just want to try a little painting, sign up for one of the "Palette Parties" at Rightside Studios. I'll be leading "Mostly Monet" on Monday, but it's all sold out. Our next one will be on Nov. 29. It might make a memory with family or older grand kids, and it might introduce you to a whole new world!

How can a machine be so frustrating? I installed some new ad-ware yesterday and today can't open my photo program. UGH! If you own a computer you probably find that your stress level is occasionally raised to the point where you'd like to throw the thing right out the window! Through the window! It's that kind of morning for me. I want to be busy putting the finishing touches on a painting I'm working on, getting ready for the art class that I'm teaching this morning, and getting my blog done. Instead, my photo program won't open and I've spend the last hour trying to open it. I've tried every way I can think of, and am now working on ways to work around this problem. I can, thank you God, get to the pictures--just not open the program to edit them. Scream!

My husband and I attended a wine-tasting at the Art League of Marco last night in honor of our friend and wonderfully creative artist Angelika Kade. Her work will be on display there for the rest of the month and it's well worth the trip to see her beautiful stone sculptures. The wine tasting, by Island Liquors, was well attended and much enjoyed, as was a cake with a picture of one of Angelika's sculptures on it made by Publix Supermarket. A nice community art event!

Sunny Day started as a class demonstration last April, and in my studio clean-out went into the "has potential" pile. I finished it yesterday and am pleased with the clear summer light of it. You can see it in person by coming to Orion Bank next Thursday, July 10 from 6-8 where you can see more of my work and a short presentation at Orion's popular Artist Appreciation series.

Sunny Day
20" x 16" (50.8cm x 40.7cm)
acrylic on canvas
$500 plus $35 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

What a busy week it was with teaching and family here, too. Today's photos are from the Florida Landscape class. We'd spend half a day inside and half out. Some of the students had never painted outside before so they had to learn what they needed to make it easy. The first day we brought only a red, blue, yellow and white along with some water, our outdoor easels, and the usual hats, bug spray and snacks. Those three color paintings were some of the most colorful of the week. We visited the Esplanade, the beach and the Everglades, so there was something everyone liked to paint. It was a wonderful class with a great attitude and some fine artists.

As much as I enjoyed it, I loved getting home to my two grandsons each day. They'd have done something special, too, and have lots to tell. The last two days of their visit we spent boating and beaching in near perfect weather. I'll miss them, and some of my students, too! I'll be teaching again this summer, a six week class from the end of June through July. Call the Marco Center for the Arts if you're interested in joining me.

I'll be having my first ever sale this weekend at Salon de Garage. For more information, click here.