often you do not realize you have a particular style,

a unique way of inhabiting this world, a manner

of applying paint until you attend a class or workshop

where the instructor has a different way of 

approaching things.  that is what happened when

i took katie kendrick's layers of movement class at

studio creshendoh.   

katie does not approach a canvas with a

subject matter.  she might use a reference image as a starting 

point but other that using a few lines from that image will abandon

it altogether and take her next que from the paint itself.  she works

in small sections applying paint, looking at the transitions between the

colors and lines and then moves to another small section.  at a point she

will stand back a distance to see what is forming, still unaware of a direction 

for the whole piece.   i feel katie has an innate trust in the process.  she stays 

with it until she feels it is complete.  

i found that while i often start a piece without a  subject in mind, 

i work on the canvas as a whole, not in small sections.  i didn't

know this about myself until this workshop.  i thoroughly enjoyed

experimenting with this and found it freeing and allowed me to focus intensely

in the section i worked.  normally, i freely apply paint and focus at the end

when an image or subject appears.   

i am grateful and admire art instructors 

who have the ability to teach what they do.

do you attend art workshops?  do you find them of value?  how do you

stretch your skills?

i am posting today with my creative friends 

at paint party friday