Thursday, February 19, 2009

Sedona Day 4

Painting in Jerome, Arizona
First, I have to say I don't loathe yesterday's painting as much today. I see possibilities in it. That is a good thing.
This morning, we drove to Jerome, an old mining town that went bust and has turned into an art colony of sorts. The town is built up a hill, as are most old mining town. As you wander up and down the streets, you can visit many different art galleries from fabric art to blown glass to paintings. There is a big artist cooperative in one area, and the old high school is home to several galleries and studios. We parked on the middle street, across from the Mile High Grill where we later had lunch. I decided to paint a couple of the buildings across an alley from the Mile High. The photo above was taken by my husband, who chose to be photographer today instead of painting.
The painting is not finished, but I know where I want to take it. I was intrigued that the lower buildings had one set of perspective points while the upper on that is behind had its own set. The front buildings are also on a sloped street and sidewalk. I still have to work on those lines and angles, but I think I am fairly close to the values I want. The windows will be interesting to finish. I think I will work on this one some more before I post it.
Now that we are nearing the end of this week in Sedona, I really want to say what a wonderful model this mentoring workshop is. All of us are staying in one house. We eat breakfast together, then we have critique sessions. After that, we follow Michael to a great place to paint. Michael is there as a resource for us as we need him. We are each working on learning different things, and he has time to give each of us the individual attention we want or need. After a few hours painting, we head back to the house for lunch together. Then we are on our own for the afternoon to paint, explore, read, or nap. Any paintings we do, we can include in the next morning critique session. I really think there should be more mentoring workshops like this. It has been a great experience for Tom and me. Check it out at Michael's Sedona page.

2 comments:

Michael Chesley Johnson, Artist / Writer said...

Why, Miki! Thank you for saying such wonderful things. I am glad you are enjoying the experience.

Tom Willa said...

Hi Miki,
You are so right about this workshop. To be working with an artist, that addresses what you want to experience is so satisfying. I loved having the direction from the critiques and having the energies left to work on my paintings from yesterday. I would reccomend this to anyoone who has some experience and has a desire to reach a new level as a serious ametuer(sp) or insight into their professional career