November 1-7 will see the final guest instructor retreat for 2017. James Edward Scherbarth begins with Process-Purpose-Passion with cold wax as the expressive medium. Following on is Lauren Mantecon. She heralds from SanteFe with a rich distinction in color and expressive painting in oils and acrylic. I am thrilled to be hosting them and look forward to the exploration this week will take in my thinking around my own work~
Lauren shares her thoughts on teaching and the advantage of working in groups in this post, while James gave thought to his workshop process in an earlier post here. Enjoy! Actually, enjoy and join us! Room is still available at the studio table for you~
Registration information here
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I love working with groups: I am even able to paint right alongside them sometimes- sharing the experience, the ups and downs, the structural mechanics of how to make a painting from the ground up.
I paint in layers, lots of layers, and as a process painter my paintings go through many incarnations.I feel this is of benefit to witness- especially if you are new to painting. I can just imagine the years of torment I could of saved myself had my graduate school professors shared their own process in their own studios away from theory and finished product. If artists tell you that their process is a breeze and they just paint with ease and passion on a constant basis:
A. They are lying.
B. They do not work very much (or only when the inspiration hits them).
C. They are a production line and have found a formula that works and rarely veer from it.
By working in a group setting, not only do you see how paintings are not made instantaneously but you can see the true gift of how so called mistakes inform the process along the way. A true dialogue begins to take place between you and the painting when you take the time to embrace the whole experience around you, instead of trying to make the painting exactly what you think it should be. It’s a subtle practice and when shared in a group can be a powerful ally.
For not only are you stepping away from your own self doubt- that can happen when working alone- you get to realize that you’re not alone.
Another thing I have been thinking about is this. Every artist or anybody who pursues creative work, questions, fumbles and constantly responds to and interacts with new forms of information. If not- then you’re not taking risks and risk is what leads us to original and authentic insight. Risk is what leads us down what at first feels like dark narrow pathways but can often lead to large bright epiphanies that show us what is uniquely ours. Learning to trust and listen to our intuition while painting is not something that is achieved and forever held like a learned brushstroke but it is actually something more elusive.
Working from the ground up we will learn acrylic and oil techniques while working on multiple pieces at once and learning to balance so called mistakes through risk taking. Join me at the EncaustiCastle in November~
For more art visit: www.laurenmantecon.com
Thank you Lauren for inspiring. I look forward to having you here, soon!
in love.
trish