October 2012 – Hudson River Valley Art Workshops

Faces and Places: Fabric Applique with Charlotte Warr Andersen

October 24, 2012

Charlotte Warr Andersen, author of Faces and Places – Images in Applique and Focus on Features – Life-like Portrayals in Appliqué, is here this week teaching a 5-day workshop on her methods.

Charlotte has the group doing drawing and sketching exercises to learn how to create realistic facial expressions. Light boxes are being used to trace the main lines of the image, but then further refinements are made as the fabric pieces are cut and appliquéd.

This is the start of a portrait of one of the student’s daughter, who is posed in her ballet outfit with her back to the camera.

Linda is working on a portrait of her granddaughter in a lovely patriotic outfit.

This the portrait that Cindy B is working on. Great expression in those eyes.

I’ll take more photos on the final day so that you can see the progress. Everyone is loving the class and Charlotte!

Alvaro’s Passionate Watercolor

October 23, 2012

You have to be passionate about your painting and about painting outdoors when you take a workshop by Alvaro Castagnet.

The second day of the workshop was bright and sunny — but “brisk” because of the cold wind. It did not deter these passionate painters from spending the day in the Hudson riverside town of Coxsackie. Bundled against the chill, they still found inspiration on this vintage town.

Lunchtime. Is this a group of artists or homeless waifs?

Wednesday brought out the sun again, but this time it was luckily without the wind. A beautiful Fall day at the farm.

The animated conversations continued around the dinner table.

Hmm. Looks like someone opted for a piece of the apple pie from the previous dinner rather than have the decadent chocolate cake being served that evening! Not something I would ever do, but the group loved having options. They especially loved that fact that any leftover dessert (carrot cake, apple pie, chocolate cake, fruit tarts) would be put out the following afternoon for an after workshop snack.

On the final day, which was a rainy day, Alvaro did a charcoal sketch and then a watercolor demo in the front parlor of our inn, the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn. The groups is gathering around here to take pictures of the finished sketch.

This is the sketch. Love how Alvaro has interpreted the space.

The October Glories in our front yard are putting on their Fall color show.

Skip Lawrence and Kenn Backhaus

October 16, 2012

Skip Lawrence was here the first week in October and I must have blinked because before I knew it the week was over. But I was able to capture a few of their smiling faces around the dinner table.

Next up on the schedule was Kenn Backhaus teaching composition and brushwork in this combination indoor and outdoor workshop.

The party mood was set on the first night with the celebration of Susan’s birthday. For a twist, Susan brought a little gift for everyone in the workshop.

The weather was a bit challenging for outdoor painting this week, but the intrepid too advantage of every sunny moment to capture the glorious Fall colors around the inn.

Warm and toasty in the studio.

There is still a lot of green leaves, but the reds, oranges and yellows are popping out all over.