The Leah Lopez workshop is drawing to a close this afternoon, but it has been a marvelous 3 days. All of the students are raving about Leah and what a wonderful artist and instructor she is! Some of the students were experienced still life artists but said that the insight and tips that Leah provided were a real break through for them.

The class arrived on Thursday and the studio quickly became the still life artist enclave! Each student composed, with the assistance of Leah, the particular still life set up that they wanted to paint. A number of fruits and vegetables were “borrowed” from our kitchen for the set ups, as well as the variety of vases, tea kettles, and such in our still life object collection. A bit of the greenery of the gardens also made it’s way into some set ups.

This is what Leslie G was working on the first day.

Next to Leslie was Patricia G, with another classical still life set up.

Here is Leah, standing, offering advice to Mary P with her composition.

This is Jeff O, working with the same set up that Leah used for her morning demo.

Mark took more pictures this after on the final day of the workshop and I’ll post them tomorrow.

The week with Bob Burridge seemed to fly past. This big happy group painted until they dropped each day, but still laughed and had a grand time around the dinner table.

Here’s Bob showing his art director talents as he tries to get everyone to smile and look good for the class picture.

He did a great job. Look at the results!

More shots of happy “campers”. This is Gloria, part of a mother-daughter team.

This is Bob taking picture of some of his students work in back of the studio/carriage house. Nice lighting.

More enjoyable times at the dinner table.

And this is the man himself.

If you didn’t get into this class you missed a good one. But don’t worry, Bob will be back! He is scheduled to return in 2011, May 22 – 28th. Mark your calendars now and sign up early.

Stanley Maltzman, a highly acclaimed landscape artist, author, and educator, plus a really nice guy who brings us flowers every holiday, is one of our instructors at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops.

He was just notified that the painting that we used in this year’s workshop brochure won an award at the Fifth Annual Northeast National Pastel Exhibition 2009 that will be on exhibit at the Art Center of Old Forge in Old Forge, NY.

The exhibit runs from June 13 – July 12, 2009.

Stanley will be teaching a 5-day workshop for us July 26 – August 1, 2009. He will be teaching drawing and pastel.

He is the author ofDrawing Nature and Drawing Trees. (Unfortunately, these books are out of print and in high demand on ebay!) Learn direct from the source!

Art is the business of seeing and Stan has designed his drawing class to encourage you to learn to see. Class is structured to help you discover the drama taking place, to approach the subject with inspiration and craftsmanship and to enjoy working outdoors. Over the course of the week Stan demonstrates techniques using drawing media such as charcoal, graphite, conte, pastel, and pastel pencil. Teaching themes include composition, improvised and planned drawing, and capturing the mood of the moment.

Stanley provides individual demonstrations and one-on-one instruction daily while painting on location.

What a guy! Bob Burridge is here teaching a full workshop of eager and happy students. I wish I could join in the fun.

Bob gives demos throughout the day. Love his use of color and sense of play.

Bob set up his command center in the back corner of the studio. He said that the lighting in the studio and from the windows was terrific!

Here is a shot of one of the student’s work tables. Such color and expression.

Today is day 3 of the workshops so there will be more pictures to come. But tonight is my night for cooking dinner, so I’ll be busy, as usual!

But speaking of food — look at these great cream puffs that Mark and Brian made for cookie time yesterday.

The cream had a slight hint of rose water. Yummy. I think they should have been topped with chocolate! But that’s just my idea.

Laura Cater-Woods arrived from Montana on Sunday with her dog buddy, Beau, and her studio assistant, Becky. The workshop retreat began on Monday when all the students arrived for the wine and cheese reception, followed by dinner.

It has been a busy week for me in the office and today was the first time I had the opportunity to slip into the studio to take pictures. I caught them in the middle of doing a critique.

They are looking at the work that Josie McD. has been doing in class. Josie is working in watercolor and acrylics, instead of fiber for this workshop.

Here are some small thread work studies.

I believe that this is dyed/painted paper. I wasn’t there for this, so I’m not sure. Dang! I’m missing all the good stuff. 😉

This is a whole cloth piece that has been layered and stitched first, and then painted. Very nice effect.

Laura has the group collecting tea bags for some as yet unshown technique! Very curious. Tea and cookies in the afternoon has helped to boost the collection.

This is something that Debbie DiG. is working on. She is hoping to incorporate word/text into her landscape.

And here is Beau, classroom mascot and all around good dog. I can’t imagine our wild hounds lose in a studio full of fabric, especially Hudson!

Everyone is really enjoying the class and lively conversation at the dinner table continues long after the last bite of dessert is gone.

(Dessert update: Monday is was hand-made chocolates. Tuesday was Peanut Butter Pie with Oreo Crust and Blackberry sauce. Wednesday was Peppermint Brownie Pie. Tonight will be Apple Tart!)

Sadly it is the final day of the Ted Minchin workshop here at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops. The week always goes by so quickly.

Today Ted is having them work with layers.

I absolutely love this painting by Julie G.!

This is the sister duo in the workshop – Ann and Ellen. Ann is of Green Brothers Coffee fame (married to one of the brother’s). She brought us a bag of Peaberry coffee beans. My favorite.

Edward Minchin (aka Sir Ted) is here at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops teaching abstract to semi-realism with watermedia.

Everyone in the class is having a blast. Ted is a very encouraging teacher and also has a million funny stories!

Everyone is all smiles in this group. Here you see Susan, Julie, and Renee, all from Canada. That’s Ted in the blue shirt!

Here is Ted using a sheet of plexi-glass over a students painting to suggest some improvements.

Every morning Ted brings out a new set of his paintings to display on the wall shelf in the studio. All of the paintings you see in this photo were painted on Yupo paper.

This is Julie, also from Canada. Canada was well represented in this workshop!

Still two more full days of workshop happening and I’ll be taking more pictures this afternoon.

The next workshop coming up is a fiber art workshop with Laura Cater-Woods. She is driving here this time (from Billings, Montana) and tells me that she is bring LOTs of goodies for the class to play with.

Barbara Nechis, a marvelous watercolor artist and instructor from Calistoga, California, is here at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops teaching a 3-day workshop.

Here is Barbara during a class critique on the second day.

While lots of fun is going on in the studio during the workshop, conversations around the dinner table can get quite lively! This is one of the great things about taking a workshop at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops.

Our all-in-one location allows and encourages the whole group to bond and inspire each other.

Barbara is always so cheerful!

The group is here for one more day (Sunday) and then our next workshop, with Ted Minchin, checks in Sunday afternoon.

There is still room in Ted’s workshop, so don’t delay, give us a call to sign up now. He has a lifetime of funny stories to tell that you don’t want to miss – not to mention that he is a terrific instructor!