Blog

In the past year, I have been asked if I give classes, workshops or online mentoring. It is a great compliment to have anybody interested in how I paint and I am very grateful for those inquiries, they help boost my confidence which is always a bit shaky. I still think of myself as a student of painting and the idea that somebody thinks I know what I am doing is a surprise. Anyway, I finally took on one student for private plein air painting lessons at a very affordable rate since I am new to teaching. I was very honest with the student, that I had never taught painting before and I would be open to a critique on my teaching skills. One thing I realized right away is that there are many important practices that were strongly stressed by my previous instructors that I do not do. The other thing I realized, which is related to those good practices, is that the student wanted to see how I approach painting, not the methodology of other painters. So I went with it, bad habits and all.  I must say that I really enjoyed our two days together. I have no problem talking painting, it is my favorite subject but, I was exhausted at the end of each day. Although I do talk to myself while painting, I am a person of few words and being "ON" all day is hard work, who knew?!  All in all, after three demos in two days, I think the student got a good feel for my method of painting and went home with few things to bring to his own painting. I learned that I have a lot to learn about teaching but I think I would like to take that on and teach more and get better. Maybe it will also help me drop some of my bad habits too.

My student was very generous and sent me a few gifts to show his appreciation. These palette knives are super cool, they have become my new favorites. They have a finish on them to prevent reflecting in the sunlight, a big plus. I can't even paint with my old knives any longer, they just don't feel as good or put the paint on as well. As you can see, I am already wearing one out.

I will be working on having a workshop next summer if anyone is interested, send me an email.