Abstracting the Landscape Workshop 2

Carol Greenwald’s painting on Colourfix

Yesterday and today I gave my second Abstracting the Landscape workshop for 4 participants, 3 or whom had originally scheduled for the workshop in January, postponed by snow. It worked out very well as we picked up a fourth person. For this workshop, each of the participants was asked to find 2-3 artists whose work they like and and would like to emulate in some way. We spent time looking at the paintings and talking about the characteristics and then looked at the photos they had brought to work from, most in black and white. My definition of “abstracting” is very loose and up to each individual. It can be hard to pinpoint just exactly what each artists aspires to, but one said something that resonated with me: I’d like to paint the kind of paintings I would buy! Some were happier with their paintings than others, but I thought all were really good and frame-worthy. Each person has to decide where they want to go with their work. My goal is to help them identify the characteristics they are aiming for and to suggest materials and techniques that will get them there. I think that all of the paintings are successful, regardless of how “abstract” they are.