The Learning Never Stops
As many of you may know, we have several exciting changes on the horizon this year and next. Even so, learning never stops—at least not for me.
Over the last weekend of June, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a three-day workshop in Kittery, Maine, with Michael and Julie Freeman, the renowned hyperrealism pastel artists from New Zealand.
You can see their stunning work here:
Julie Freeman
Michael Freeman
When the instructors asked what we each hoped to gain from the workshop, I mentioned that I tend to paint more whimsically. Michael’s warm reply was, “Sometimes personality just comes through.”
Subject #1 - Ocean Seaweed
Some of you might wonder why an artist known for a whimsical style would seek out a hyperrealism workshop. The answer is simple: growth happens when we step outside our comfort zone. While I deeply love my whimsical approach, I also want the skills to create more realistic pieces when the mood strikes. This class delivered new techniques, valuable tips, and fresh ways of seeing that I can adapt to my own work. Best of all, I’ll be bringing many of these insights into my pastel classes for you as well.
The Freemans work almost exclusively on Pastelmat—a surface that hasn’t always been my favorite. Yet I learned several clever tricks that make it far more compatible with my style, which alone made the workshop worthwhile. And that was just the beginning. One of Michael’s memorable statements was, “My goal is for people to look at my painting and not know what medium it is.”
If you’d like to hear more about what I learned, I invite you to join me in my Beyond Pastels sessions, where I’ll be sharing these new ideas and approaches.
Subject #2
Subject #3 Waves (complete with finger and folds)