UPCOMING WORKSHOPS and LESSONS

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

I hope you can join me for one of these workshops to sharpen your skills, or just try something new! OCTOBER promises cooler days, coastal birds and clouds and coffee-shop sketch classes! Have some fun before the crazy holiday season. My workshops are intense, and intensely fun. I keep them small, so respond soon for supply lists and "housing" info.

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    COFFEE SHOP SKETCH CLASSES    

October 5, 12, 19, 26. 

November 2, 9

6pm - 8pm

Wednesday nights in October and early November.

I will introduce you to a new way to see, sketch and capture impressions QUICKLY!

Learn how to keep a travel sketchbook, and how to SEE in SHAPES, rather than lines and contours...(nothing wrong with lines, but you already see those!)

We explore new drawing media, too...I bring lots of my own stuff for you to try. 

Location: Joel's Coffee House, Lakeline Blvd., Austin, TX. Bring a friend, enjoy fun coffees and Joel's new salad and sandwich menu, along with the usual great handmade chocolates....oh yes, and we will sketch like crazy!

email to sign up

$30 per session or $160 for all sessions

Dusky Docks - 40 x 30

Dusky Docks___40 x 30 BIG oil on Gallery wrap

Available at Rockport Art Festival, July 6-7, Rockport, TX

or available from ME!

 

A few months ago I did the study for this one, which sold in Charleston...since it sold, I have been chomping at the bit to do a large version....

I love SUMMER and the humid coastal areas this time of year. Yes, I LOVE the humidity and even the SMELL of the coast and boatyards!...so much so that RIGHT NOW, I am headed to New Orleans to gather more "steamy reference"...My sister is tagging along, and we will catch up to my artist friend, Robin Cheers, who is there right now, hanging out in all the cafes, and eating her way through the restaurants and urban areas, sketching and texting me to "hurry up" and get there....We are hoping to do some sort of collaboration on the theme, so I can't wait to see what she has done!...

Actually, the plan is to work separately while there, and then get our stuff together afterwards to see what each of us did! (but since she and her family got there first, they are keeping in touch, to make sure I don't miss something I NEED to see!...or eat!!!)

I'll be looking for a boatyard or a farm!...and a beignet

 

Dusky Docks

Dusky Docks__12x9__SOLD at SEWE

My first sale tonight at the Sotheastern Wildlife Exposition.

I just finished it a few days ago and decided to do a larger one real soon!

Boatyard Gone By

Boatyard Gone By___10 x10 watercolor pencil sketch__$250

 

Before I get back to my BIRDSEED PROJECT tomorrow, I will post another one from my recent trip to the Texas coast...if you look real hard, there are a couple of shore birds flying here, but it doesn't count for my Birdseed Project!

 

Monday I say goodbye to my college son, Sam...I sure have enjoyed having him under foot for these weeks! He has to head back to college in Kansas...I guess I will take down the Christmas stuff and start the new year's diet!...I look forward to seeing my high school art students, as they start their second semester Monday, too!

Hate to see the Holidays "gone by", but eager to see the new year blessings ahead!

Harbor Life

Harbor Life__20 x 60 oil on linen___For Rockport Art Festival this weekend (click to enlarge)
I posted "state one" of this large work a few months ago. Click to see the first version, but you will be hard pressed to see any big changes. I just added a few nondescript birds... I have been saving it to show at the Rockport Art Festival, in Rockport Texas this weekend. Of course, I like to show my blog friends my works FIRST, and to give you the chance to purchase it first, too. SO, if you need a BIG BIG piece of art let me know quick, because I will show this one as my "flagship" piece over the weekend....I hope to see you there! It looks a LOT BETTER in "real life!
Speaking of "life", I thought you 'd like to see our little "Johnson" who is now our BIG BOY, since the Good Dane Romeo passed away a few weeks ago....Romeo used to put a ball like this under his tongue!...check out the ear!

Boatyard-State 1

Boatyard-State 1____20x60 oil on linen_____wondering where to put the birds?
Well, it's way too soon to post this one, but I NEEDED to post SOMETHING today to have an excuse to apologize for the "sideways" painting I posted yesterday. It was a Blogger glitch and I simply could NOT get the picture to go in there right....I had hoped no one would notice. Those of you who get my art in an e-mail were MOSTLY polite about it! There were a few "sassy" comments, which I deserve, and my evil nature will remember and reciprocate asap! haha

This painting is a work similar to the Harbor painting posted a few days ago. I wanted to see the focus on the boats...These are the basic colors, laid down to get me started...I have a LOT MORE to do and likely will not finish it till I get back from the North Plains (see yesterday's post)...But I do have an "audience participation" question, especially for you artists here: Where would YOU put the (necessary) birds? I have my plan, but would love to hear or see YOURS!

Harbor Flight

Harbor FLight___24x18 oil on linen___for Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, unless you want it first

I have been in the studio this week, preparing for upcoming shows and travels. The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition is in Charleston, SC each year and I am almost finished preparing for it. This one is actually a "study" for a larger canvas I am working on...I like working out problems in paint. When I finish the study, I usually "wish there was more"....all the time spent "in the scene" FINALLY comes together at the end and it's hard to "put down the brush" (If you are an artist, you KNOW......this is why we sometimes OVERWORK a painting). Rather than overworking, I prefer to just do another one, to "FINISH" the mood! It's sort of like reading a good book or getting engrossed in a good movie. Just when you get into the story and the characters, the movie ends!....This painting has not "ended" for me, yet....there will be a sequel! :) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

oat

Calvert Feb 21_Click for info

"Bounty in Charleston"____10 x 8 oil on linen....painted with a paper towel!
A few weeks ago I painted a similar image en plein air at a workshop. The image was still on my mind, so I planned to do a demo of it in Charleston while there last week. When I got to the demo location, I did not have my brushes!!!!*#!*## But, the demo must go on! I rolled up a paper towel and painted this one from memory. The title was given to me by fellow artist Adele Earnshaw, and makes reference to her favorite brand. I might have named it Viva!
I'll teach a one-day workshop Saturday in Calvert. Come if you can! Details below...

Plein Aire Painting Workshop Saturday, February 21, 2009
Meet at Mud Creek Pottery on Main Street.
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Official) or Come early and stay late for Sunrise to Sunset (7:30 a.m. to 6:51 p.m.) $80
To get in, contact one of these folks below right away.
grannyc_54@yahoo.com (979)450-9019
Mud Creek PotteryCalvert claydude@mudcreekpottery.com 1-800-870-8183 (979)364-3730
Barbara Conitz in Port Lavaca (361)552-4671
v....vaughan vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Rockport Day___Click to bid

"Rockport Day Off" ___8x6 oil on linen panel___Click to bid
This was a nice relaxing painting, despite the fact that I locked my keys in the truck as I got out to paint. Somehow, I knew I had no place else to go, so I relaxed and enjoyed the process, while waiting for Scotty's lock and key to come to my rescue! It was a beautiful day in Rockport, TX.

THANK YOU for walking through my Farm Story with me these past few months! The ebay auctions of my Last Day on the Farm are expiring one by one for the next few days. The 365 paintings of my Last Year are now in Alabama this month. See them all and read the field notes on my web site,
http://www.v-vaughan.com Many of those paintings are STILL AVAILABLE...

http://www.vvaughan.blogspot.com

Rockport Sparkle

"Rockport Sparkle"________8x10___________available
Once again, the painting I thought I hated while doing it, is my FAVORITE painting of the weekend! (A lesson for you artists to "DON'T scrape it off" too soon!
This was my last demonstration of the weekend, as I taught a group of teachers in an educators' conference at the Rockport Center for the Arts....I will teach a plein air workshop one day a month in the spring, for anyone interested! The Saturday sessions begin on Feb. 24.
THIS WEEK I will paint 24 in 24 hours "Winter Day Last Year on the Farm" ...like I did in the fall. I am watching the weather and moon phases to find the best , most "interesting" 24 hour period, so if anyone in the Austin area has a thought about it, PLEASE let me know! Don't hit reply....click here vvaughan8@yahoo.com
















"Rockport Sparkle"

Dinghy Interiors

"Dinghy Interiors" 6 x 8
Painted on location in Maine a while ago. Recently sold at Richard James Galleries in Charleston, SC....
I will be in Charleston at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition from Feb. 14 - 19. My favorite show! Great art, amazing low country food and just a superior group of artists to hang out with...I have made life long friends, there and I can't wait to see them again. ...But I have a lot to do to get ready...gotta go paint!










"Dinghy Interiors"