Visiting Molly at the NC State Fair Grounds

Molly always has something interesting to entice me when I visit her NC State Fair Grounds antique booth. Her space if filled with exciting vintage finds.





She even has some of her painted items tucked in among the antiques.

You'll find Molly at the fair grounds every Sat and Sun in the building closest to Blue Ridge Rd, and behind the watch man. She'd love for you to come visit.

At the Studio Again

I'm back from vacation which was wonderful, and at the studio trying to figure out where I left off with studio happenings.

Our open class resumes tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and getting back into painting.

We're finishing up some of our current paintings on Wed and getting ready to start new ones so be sure to check out the schedule and plan to join us.

If you haven't registered for the leaf study class I'm teaching this Sat, June 26, do so quickly so you won't miss it. This class is a must if you want to improve your acrylic painting techniques in general, and side loading in specific, as well as learn to paint realistic leaves. I've had lots of queries about when the next leaf study would be taught and here it is. And, the room is air conditioned, a cool way to spend your Sat.

Coming soon! I've planned a watercolor class for July 9 and will be working on my painting this week. I'll let you see it as soon as it's out of my brush and on the paper. Our last watercolor class was so successful we want to paint more.

Come have fun and cool off in a painting class. I'll see you soon.

Note to Us

We've changed the schedule due to popular demand. We move the Herb Floor Cloth to the Wed morning class in Aug. Be sure to check the schedule for details.

This leaves us with the Sea Shells as the last class on the schedule for the summer. We may take a short summer break but if you have something that you would like to add for the Wed afternoon class, please let me know.

I'm on vacation this next week, soaking up the sea breezes, sunning, and researching for beach scenes. Have a good week and I'll see you on the week of the 21st.

There are still some seats available for our seminar with Ros and for the leaf study with me on the 26th. Register soon.

I hear beach music playing and the sand is calling me.............

Increase Your Brain Power By Learning to Paint

I just read an article about the "aging brain". Although we may feel that our memories are declining, according to this article your brain doesn't even reach it's peak till between ages 40 - 68 yrs. The article continues "our brain powers up, not down, and grows in cognitive ability as we age, reorganizing itself and using more of its parts to solve problems". The key is to keep you brain exercised. Measures to staying mentally supple as we age include physical exercise (increasing oxygen to the brain), mental challenges (such as learning to paint), and social interaction. Learning new skills is highly recommended. People who are happy and have a positive self image are less likely to develop Alzheimer's and are more mentally alert according to some studies.

This just supports my beliefs that learning to paint and continuing to explore new painting challenges is good for our mental health and brain health.

Read more.

Summer Classes at Artful Endeavors

Get comfortable and we’ll catch up with our painting news.

I’m not sure how it got here so fast this year, but, it’s summer already. Lots of our students plan to be around for most of the summer and they have chosen some exciting projects to paint. We’ll have sea shells, fruits, flowers, herbs, a still life, a bunny, and even the Noah’s alphabet. I’m sure we’ll have quite a variety of surfaces chosen and it’s always interesting to see what students bring in to paint. And that’s just talking about our weekly classes.

In addition:

Our Tue morning group is lively and enthusiastic, coming up with lots of painting ideas. I’ll post these ideas as they form and you are encouraged to join us. We’ll usually have a group project going on as well as individuals working on special paintings. I’ll also start new beginners/resurrected painters on Tues this summer. Check below for more details on the basics classes.

I’m offering the leaf study on June 26. This all day workshop is a must for anyone who would like to improve their painting techniques, especially side loading, while learning to paint, and enjoy painting, realistic leaves. This is a fun, full day of learning in this techniques class, where we’ll paint on a sample surface that you can keep for your reference. Some painters have been known to take this class 2 or 3 times since it is so packed with valuable painting information. And as I learn more, I pass it along to you. Plan to join us. Since my vacation is next week be sure to register this week so that you will have your prep and ready for class. Details below.

Our resourceful students have suggested class ideas that I have applied for new designs. Thanks all. You always come up with interesting ideas. I’ve had fun creating some original designs for us to paint. I’ve been posting my painting progress on face book and on the blog for you to see. Hope you’ve enjoyed the creative process. Designing is slow but lots of fun. Half planning and designing, and half actually painting and refining.

I’m working on another watercolor workshop, scheduled for July 9^th. I haven’t decided what our subject will be yet but we’ll build onto the techniques that we explored in our first class. Did you miss the first watercolor class? Don’t worry, you can still join this class as we learn some basic watercolor technique. It’s so much fun and with me designing, will be filled with vibrant color. I’ll supply the paints and paper, so you just need your basics supplies and brushes. Want to hear more, drop by the studio and talk to me.

I’m ready to offer a summer portrait class. If you are interested in painting a portrait with me on Aug 19 & 20, that’s Thurs and Fri please let me know. If we get enough interest we’ll plan the workshop. This class would be appropriate for those of you who have never yet painted a portrait or for those who have painted portraits with me in the past. If you would need a week end workshop, let me know that too and again, if we get enough interest I love to paint with you.

Our weekly classes are ongoing throughout the summer. Also I’ll be adding one day classes as inspiration occurs. Be sure to watch the schedule page for updates. I’ll send out brief reminders of added classes and news this summer with links to the schedule page for details.

Have you seen my articles in Quick and Easy Painting in the past 2 issues? Watch for more to come.

Mastering the Decorative Painting Basics is in video form on Creative Workshops. The first video is on base coating and stroke work, The second video is on side loading and floating. This is a great video for anyone wanting to improve their side loading technique. You can also register for my other video classes at Creative Workshops, drawing faces and the butterfly batik. Summer is a great time to take advantage of on line class. So, especially if you can’t just run up to Artful Endeavors for a class, you can paint with me on line. I’ll look forward to hearing from you when you register for one of my classes at Creative Workshops.

Did I mention that I’ll be on vacation June 12-20? And looking forward to sitting on the beach soaking up the sun and ocean breezes, and enjoying my family including the little ones who are old enough to really enjoy the beach this year. I’ve got a couple of good books and a beach umbrella.

I can’t include all the project photos in this newsletter so be sure to check the schedule on line.

I hope you’ll join us as we beat the summer heat inside our wonderful air-conditioned Sawmill studio.