After missing several weeks of lessons Isabella is back and we had a lesson last night.
We painted big red poppies in acrylic. Even though she is just 7 years old, she picks up concepts quickly and does a fantastic job. Don’t you think?
This was my version. We paint along together during the lesson so I always end up with the same thing the student does. I kind of like this one. Reminds me of Georgia O’Keeffe.
Of course, Truman was not impressed. We bore him so after he gets all the attention he can from my student he takes a nap. 🙂
As I promised last week, we completed the art lesson last Wednesday night at class of this painting of an artist working on location. 
Fog Across the Valley is an oil on canvas panel. This is another piece we did recently in art class. As you may have guessed this week from reading the blog, I finally brought home some pieces we did on Wednesdays in art class and photographed them to post on the blog. I didn’t realize how far behind I had gotten on that! We paint a lot in class. 🙂
Another Fence for Pat is an oil on canvas panel that we did several weeks ago in art class on Wednesday at the Blue Ridge Arts Council. I named it for Pat because one of my art students loves to paint fences. We have done several. This one was a snow scene with a fence.
And don’t forget that it is the 3rd Thursday and the Art Walk is tonight from 5 – 8 p.m. in downtown Front Royal. Shops are open late, serving refreshments, and there will be entertainment. Come out and watch artist demonstrating and support the art community.
Here is what we will be finishing up tonight at Art Class. We started this piece last week and just have a few details to add to finish. You can see the photo above the painting. This lesson is a photo from an ad in a magazine. 
Cat in the Window was an art class lesson for the Wednesday Oil Painting class. Here is the start.
And the progression.
And the finished painting. It measures 10″x8 and is an oil on canvas panel.
“View from the River Bridge” is an oil on canvas panel measuring 9″x12″. I started this painting several weeks ago as a lesson in the Wednesday night art class. We did the landscape work with the fields, mountain and river. Then when I brought it home and looked at it for awhile I decided that it needed something more. The photo I used was one I snapped while driving along. (See the photo by clicking this link. 
Berries is an oil on 5″x7″ canvas panel. It was a lesson in the Wednesday Night Art Class a few weeks ago. I just got around to putting some finishing touches on it. It is available for $65 (unframed) by contacting me at 
Isabella is my private student. She comes once a week and we work in acrylics. She’s a very quick study and has done some really nice little paintings.
Here she is hard at work.
I have always believed that anyone can paint. Many people say to me that “I don’t have the talent or the gift to paint”. My response has always been that you don’t need “talent”, just desire. You can learn techniques; you can learn about color theory; you can learn about composition. But you can’t learn desire. You have to want to paint. I have a terrific class of students currently on Wednesdays from 5 – 6:45. This is one of the painters, Shelly, working on her landscape.
And here is Yvonne working on a mountain and river scene. 
The Studio 