(Above: Sweeney admiring my work. Or maybe it just smells nice.)
Just got back from a fantastic workshop at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point, WI with James Edward Scherbarth. The workshop was Oil and Cold Wax. This is the third workshop I've taken in this medium, with three different instructors. Each time I learn something amazing and new, and my work improves each time.
Click to view my gallery of work in Oil and Cold Wax.
The first class I took was with Lisa Pressman at Shake Rag Alley a couple years ago, and she focused on R&F Pigment sticks with the cold wax. That was my start with the medium, and I was hooked immediately. The tactile quality of the medium, the infinite techniques, and the layering - so much more flexible than the watercolor medium in which I typically work.
In February, I took my second class with instructor Dianne Martia at Water Street Studios in Batavia, IL. Diane reinvigorated my passion for the medium, teaching me all new techniques focusing on oil paint from the tube mixed with the wax, incorporating stencils and mark making techniques, and combining marble dust to increase the textural possibilities. My passion was re-stoked.
That class led me to Jim Scherbarth's class, which was filled with 9 other artists of varying levels of experience. What a great group this was and how lucky I was to be part of it. Jim led us each day with demos on new techniques and inspirational talks and exercises on how to develop your individual voice as an artist. The group as a whole had enormous creative synergy, each person inspiring and encouraging each other. The work from the artists was awesome on so many levels. We also had the great luck of viewing several pieces of Jim's work on display at a local art walk on the same weekend. Seeing his work in person his work was an enormous treat - he is truly inspired. It all leaves me itching to get back into the studio.
Following are works completed in Jim's class:
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I look forward to future collaborations with these wonderful artists, taking more workshops, and continuing to develop my artistic voice. I can't wait to see what happens next!
Babs had to get in on the fun too.
