Signs of Spring

Crocus buds growing with red thyme.

A few warms rains in mid February brought out the first crocus buds in my front yard. The first crocuses are always a hopeful sign of spring, and over the years mine have been spreading nicely under the cherry tree, in spite of the voles and squirrels that eat the bulbs.

Crocus clumps under the cherry tree.

Species crocuses.

This year a few of the yellow species crocuses actually bloomed--this color seems to be the most frequently eaten by wild creatures, oddly enough.

Below is a drawing of a bunch of radishes in color pencils that I did as a demo for a workshop at the New Day Art Center in Martinsburg, WV a couple of weekends ago. It has nothing to do with spring crocus,  but when I see lovely bunches fresh radishes like these and other produce arriving to our grocery store, it seems like another wonderful sign of spring. At this time of the year when fresh flowers are hard to come by, I rely on my grocery store to find botanical specimens to use in my botanical art classes and workshops.

Bunch of radishes, color pencil drawing, 7"h x 8"w.

Speaking of the New Day Art Center, I'm offering another workshop there on March 28 and 29: "Sharpen Your Drawing Skills." Talking to other artist/instructors I find that drawing is the skill most of our students are weakest in. Drawing directly from life is a challenge, but one of the most useful skills in an artist's toolbox.

Gallery 3, a New Teaching Studio

River Bend, color pencils, 9"h x 12"w.

Last weekend I had the honor to teach the very first class at Gallery 3 in Sperryville, Va, our new local art space--a teaching studio/gallery. At the end of last year, a group of us former instructors at the now-defunct Art in the Valley gallery in Front  Royal got together under the guidance of Sperryville artist Carole Pivarnik, who had a connection to another artist already using the space. Carole has done wonders to set up our teaching studio, creating a website, remodeling, and furnishing the space. I'm so happy to be part of this exciting new venture!

My workshop on Landscapes in Color Pencil was scheduled for the first weekend of the month, which happened to fall on the first two days of February. I had only one student signed up, which isn't really enough to be profitable, but decided to go ahead and hold the workshop anyway, just to try out the new place and get the ball rolling.

My student was a delightful lady of Japanese origin, married to an American, and already had considerable artistic skills, so the unique situation gave me plenty of time to develop my own piece, which I normally use to demonstrate the techniques in the workshop.

I had neglected to check on the paper supply in my portfolio case beforehand, and when I got there, found I only had one quarter sheet of Fabriano Artistico--my preferred medium for color pencils. I gave that to my student, and ended up using a piece of Bristol paper from a pad for my own demo piece.

It was a challenge using this smooth, rather slippery surface, and it took quite a bit of time and effort to build up the colors, but the scene--based on an old photo of the Potomac River taken one spring years before--was so evocative, I was determined to make it work. After the workshop was over, I continued working on it at home, and was surprisingly pleased with it.

I've gone ahead and submitted it to Art at the Mill for this spring's show, we'll see if they accept it. This year, Art at the Mill asked me to do a demo during the first weekend of the show, which I'm looking forward to doing. It's going to be a busy weekend for me, since Gallery 3 is having its official Grand Opening on the same weekend, to coincide with SperryFest 2020. We artist instructors are planning to do demos during our grand opening, there will be live music and lots of fun stuff, including the traditional Sperryville Rubber Duck Race down mighty Thornton Creek.

Please check out my other classes and workshops offered at Gallery 3 Events on the website--I'm offering a variety of botanical and landscape classes in watercolors, color pencils and pastels. Remembering that old TV show from the early 1960's: "Have Gun Will Travel," I'll be doing a "Have brush, will travel" weekend!