David Taylor – Photo to Quilt with Hand Applique

We just had a fun and engaging week with David Taylor, the fiber artist form Steamboat Springs, Colorado (not David Taylor the fabulous watercolorist from Australia who will be teaching here next year! Although they both like and buy my Crazy Ties.)

I have long admired David’s award-winning work, having seen it all over the internet and also some of the major shows, so it was a pleasure to finally meet him and have him here to teach a workshop.

Everyone brought a great photo to work from, each different than the others. David had everyone start with the eyes. It was sort of erie to walk through the studio that first day and see all those eyes peering at you.

Joyce L was working on a cute portrait of fox. I love her fabric palette spread out around her.

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Corinne had a wonderful picture of a blue-footed booby bird!

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Sandy’s focus was flora rather than fauna, with this bright yellow flower.

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Helene had a picture of one of her dogs.

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And Korinna was working on a cat. Korinna was our longest distance winner in this class, having come from Germany!

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These next couple of pictures show the progress after a couple of days.

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Every day David provided demos and discussions about the various steps of his process.

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The remaining pictures were taken on the final day. You can see that some people made more progress than others, but the reason is different than you might think. David told me, rolling his eyes, that everyone was having so much fun chatting, laughing and telling stories that they weren’t spending enough time focused on their work! The class even went on a field trip to a local quilt fabric shop, Log Cabin Fabrics, during class time one afternoon.

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David brought several of his art quilts with him, of course, and everyone oohed and aahed and had him hold them up for pictures.

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Here is the paparazzi!

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This is the quilting on the back of David’s bird quilt. Simplily amazing.

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One of the demos on the last day was how David puts on the binding on his finished pieces. He thinks of the binding as framing his finished work.

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It was a good week all around with good food and good weather to round out the experience. We hope to have David back again in the future!

Dynamic Portraits in Fabric with Esterita Austin

Another successful workshop with Esterita (Teri) Austin! Some amazing portraits were created. This first set of photos shows how much progress everyone had made by Wednesday of this 5-day class.

Don’t you just love the mustache! Wait til you see the beard.

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On the way back to the Main Inn from taking photos, I noticed this baby snapping turtle in the creek that runs through the property. The fish were circling around him in a teasing fashion. It was interesting to watch.

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Back in the Main Inn, the heavenly scent of chocolate filled the air. Marzipan was being enrobed with organic dark chocolate. The marzipan itself was made the day before from freshly ground organic almonds. After Teri tried one she responded with “Wow, I didn’t know I liked marzipan until I tried yours!”

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Here are our two birthday girls in the class, Caroline and Barb.

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Lunch in the Main Inn dining rooms.

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And finally, the class photo with all the wonderful portraits! You can see a video pan of a close up of the group on the Hudson River Valley Art Workshop Facebook PageIMG 2537

Teri will be back again next year, but with a new class – Mono-Printing and Mixed Media Collage. Sure to be another winner!

Going Beyond Your Boundaries in Watercolor with Mel Stabin

Another fun workshop week with Mel Stabin has just come to a close. Mel has been coming to teach workshops at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops more years than I want to count!

This year he taught a workshop titled “Pushing the Envelope in Watercolor: Express Yourself.” It was all about challenging yourself and go beyond your boundaries in watercolor! Mel wanted to encourage his students to experience the magical, spontaneous, and transparent qualities of watercolor and help them discover that watercolor is at its best when it is set free.

The class spent about equal time painting outdoors on location and in the studio.

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The final day was spent in the studio where Mel did a demo on figures and how to incorporate them in your landscapes. This was Mel’s demo painting.

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Painting and learning all day can be exhausting but this group knew how to relax. Every evening they’d gather on the front porch of the inn for some beers or wine, and some great conversation.

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This is one of the dishes served for dinner during the workshop – a savory Thai braised beef served on top of long rice noodles. The fragrance of the lemongrass, coconut milk, and spices emanating from the kitchen has people licking their lips in anticipation.

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And speaking of licking lips, this is Link who came with Suzy and got more attention and hellos than anyone else in the workshop.

Maybe he is thinking of the home-made pumpkin dog biscuit he found in his room upon his arrival!

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If you missed this class, Mel is scheduled to return again in 2016! Don’t miss it.

Transforming Reference Photos with Peter Fiore

Peter Fiore was recently here teaching “Beyond the Photograph,” a workshop about using photography as reference material for oil paintings. He discussed how to interpret light, key your paintings, control color, and create solid value structures.

This was the second time that Peter has taught a workshop with us and each time by the time the week is over, we can’t wait to schedule him for a return!

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Peter’s wife, Barbara, was also here and caught us as we were about to take our dogs out for a walk. Barbara is also a marvelous ceramic scupture artist. I just love the whimsical figures she creates.

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We kept everyone happy and well fed. This is a shot of one of the dinner dishes, Gai Yang, a Thai BBQ chicken served with mango slices on top of sticky coconut rice.

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Landscapes Through Time with David Dunlop

We had a wonderful week with David Dunlop and his full class of eager students. David, besides being an award-winning artist and popular teacher and lecturer, is host and Emmy Award-winning writer of the 13-episode PBS television series Landscapes Through Time with David Dunlop.

The group has a week of beautiful weather to go out and paint on location at some of the stunning parks in our area.

A new locations for this year was the Devil’s Tombstone park. The site had a picturesque lake and grand vistas of notch in the mountains. Plus picnic tables for an enjoyable picnic lunch — delivered by us!

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If you missed this class, David will be back again in 2016!