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April, 2012 Taos Workshop

Apologies for yesterday’s rogue post that escaped…were you wondering why I was talking about last year?! What I was really meaning to announce was the plein air workshop that Susan Hong-Sammons and I have put together for April of this year. See details in the release below. Come join us if you can, and if you know of anyone else who might be interested, please feel free to pass on this post.

Best,

Karen

Plein Air Workshop:  Effective Outdoor Painting in Oils

Location: Taos, New Mexico

Dates:  April 26, 27, 28, 29, 2012

Cost:  $335.

For Advanced Beginners through Intermediate Oil Painters.

 

Join award winning artists and popular instructors, Karen Phipps and Susan Hong-Sammons, in this four-day plein air painting workshop.  We will be painting in the beautiful setting of Taos. You will learn practical tips for setting up on location, working quickly and directly from nature, all with oil paints. We will cover equipment options to keep your gear simple and pared down, using a limited palette, focusing on big shapes, clean color, compositions, finding a focus and simple value patterns in order to capture the essence of the scene. The goal in this workshop is to learn how to take the scene before us, translate it into a simple and expressive composition, and then paint it quickly, directly, and confidently.  After the 3 days of guided painting exercises and daily critiques, we will spend the 4th day painting more independently at a location with the group, followed by an afternoon critique and closing “wrap-up” session.

Compact supply list, syllabus, travel and lodging recommendations will be provided.

A Welcome to Cold with Some Warm Weather Paintings

Hello to All! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Fall season! By now I’m sure we all know that it’s that time of year where for me…personally I just start waiting…and waiting…for the warm weather to return. But until then, I’ll bask in the memory of a recent trip down to Aruba, and share a bit of the warmth with you. These are a couple of paintings from the trip, and you can find others under Current Work.

Mangel Halto is a secluded and quiet beach on the Southern part of the island. It’s waters are extremely shallow, and we could wade very far out into the sea, which was so clear we could look right down through the water and watch the small brightly colored tropical fish swimming around our legs:

On the other, Northern, tip of the island is Arashi Point, where the coast drops off suddenly into deep and sometimes unforgiving waters. Not good for wading! But a magnificent spot to paint:

I’ve also been busy updating the main website with a number of new paintings I completed while on an October sojourn out to Taos, and I invite you to visit the Current Works sections to see what I’ve been up to lately.

More paintings soon, unfortunately probably lots of snow involved…

Best,

Karen

Cedarburg Flowers

When Susan and I went to Cedarburg, WI recently, of course we painted the bars! But we also got ourselves out into nature and to check out the gorgeous flowers around town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And doing what we do so well, painting in the rain (again) (easel falls into the pond right after this picture):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The product of painting at the Riveredge Nature Center pond, raindrops on the painting and all:

 

 

 

Cityscapes

A recent trip up to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, afforded me the opportunity to study some of those wonderful corner pubs that are so iconic of the Midwest.

The L& G Express, lots of Journey on the jukebox and $2 Buds. What more could you ask for?

 

Morton’s Wisconsin Inn, with the most delicious blue cheese and jalapeno stuffed burgers! And one heck of a bloody mary too!

 

Morton’s in the morning:

The Stonewall Pub, which I never actually made it into (surprise!), but quite enjoyed watching the scene when the patrons rolled on out and offered to pose for me.

 

Be sure to check out my new Cityscapes page, where you’ll find these latest works, along with some other oldies but goodies, a few new ones, and, of course, as I continue to work my way through the best pubs around, I keep updating it. A tough job, but someone has to do it!

A Fourth without Fireworks

 

It was startling to be in New Mexico last week and to see some of the effects of draught and fires that have spread across the state. This “land of clear light” was often and orangey haze; I overheard someone say “It looks like and LA sunset”. Forest land has been closed to visitors, and we’d witness a strike of lightning, and then soon after firetrucks speeding by to the scene of the new fire that had just broken out. It’s frightening to think of the land engulfed in flames, and to see the billows of smoke rising in the distance…

Down near the Rio Grande in Arroyo Hondo a cactus emerges from the brush:

 

Thankfully there was a storm while we were there, which produced some moisture (hail and snow in the higher elevations!):

 

I was lucky enough to be invited to paint with a friend at contemporary Taos master Walt Gonske’s home, and lucky enough to be given a tour of his studio! What inspiration!!

 

And I found a quiet spot in Arroyo Seco to study the old adobe church:

The City that Care Forgot

Not driving, only walking, no chains,  just local places, for 5 days. Beignets and chicory coffee, a float down Old Man River, Sazeracs, historic graveyards, and of course, a couple of Hurricanes. A cathedral with clarinets and timpani drums, sitting in Jackson Square and watching the world slowly go by… A trip to Central Grocery, a stroll through elegant decay, afternoon cocktails in a brick courtyard filled with palms. Jamablaya, creole shrimp, red beans and rice. A look at where jazz began, sitting on a flower-filled patio, semingly without a care.

 

A Quiet Spring

One of the beautiful things about Spring in the Midwest is the stillness in the morning hours; how the air feels ‘thin’ somehow,  and the colors in the sun and the sky and the landscape are still restrained and not yet given to their full Summer saturation.

Out at Lieber Nature Center in Elkhart:

 

And down near the pond:

Almost Spring

It’s trying…trying very hard…to become Spring here in Chicago. Every year there is this looooonnnngg period of time between when winter is supposed to end and when we’re supposed to get some relief. Right on schedule, the tulips in front of the house have come up from the ground, and it was almost 60 degrees the other day, and then, the other night, I turn around from my barstool in horror to see snow falling. I know, I expect it, but still….not fair.

At Humboldt Park…

And at North Pond…

Signed,

Patiently Waiting.

Taking a walk

It’s wonderful to think how even something as simple as taking a walk can inspire us…something we notice along the way somehow sticks, becomes an image that stays with us…

Images from a walk along the Rio Grande, freezing cold, yet brilliant light…the warmth of the sun creating lovely blue shadows…

The image that stayed with me, a path of light climbing the hill…

In the Backyard

We never have to look far…maybe just out into the backyard….”en plein adobe”…

At  stormy early morning clouds gathering…

Or at morning sunlight falling over the tops of newly covered sagebrush …