Posts in Category: class

2014…. and it’s a wrap!

2014 is quickly wrapping up. It is a dark early evening, too dark to paint, so I am blogging instead. Facebook and WordPress are putting out these computer generated annual content reports, but they are much too silly, or artificial is possibly a better description. So I thought I will tell you what really happened this year :).

I painted 6 paintings:

Ok, the last one – working title Turning Time – is still a work in progress!

E is for Empathy will appear on a cover of my husband’s book A Rumor of Empathy, Resistance, Narrartive, Recovery in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy – Lou Agosta, PhD. Interesting book, check it out!

Adagio for Three Strings has won a Most Innovative award in National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society (NOAPS) Fall Show. Much too excited about this!

I had work in two shows in 2014:

– Matite in Viaggio, Centro Candiani, Venice Italy – October 2014

– National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society (NOAPS) – December 2014

Ardmore overpass 8-1-2012

I participated in my second Sketchpack project

It runs from Cape Town South Africa. Every day for the month of August I drew a small drawing. My 31 drawings traveled to Cape Town SA to participate in a show.

alex-sketchpack-concertina-2-8-31-2014

I have started teaching oil painting

and had a number of victims students study with me in my studio as well as online via Skype, gotta love technology!

Paul painting

Paul painting

 

Urban Sketchers Chicago

Urban Sketchers Chicago, a sketching group I started in 2012, is going strong with its monthly sketch crawls, active Facebook, blog and other online presence. The group now has nearly 350 sketchers and a wonderful unique spirit.

Chicago Sketch Seminar 2014 took place in June 2014 and was a great success. I was privileged to lead a group amazing volunteers and together we created this wonderful event. About 70 sketchers from all over USA and even one international sketcher attended and participated in 8 sketching workshops and 3 sketching activities. And one Dinner, Drinks and Drawing event!

If you are still reading this, I really appreciate!

I hope you had nice holidays so far and wishing you Happy Healthy and Artful New Year!!

Chicago Sketch Seminar 2014 – retrospect

 

A month ago, on June 7-8, we Urban Sketchers Chicago had our first ever Chicago Sketch Seminar 2014. After a year of planning (and fretting!) it was finally here and turned out a success. I managed the planning process for this event and was privileged to lead the finest team of planners one can wish for.

Dozens of sketchers from Chicago, from around the country (Cincinnati, Portland OR, San Francisco, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc), even from Canada came to Chicago and sketched together. They took 8 sketching workshops, I taught a workshop on color. They participated in a number of sketching activities that showed off our beautiful and oh-so-sketchable city. They had one Dinner, Drink and Draw event and it was good!

The Seminar came and went in a flash and left some wonderful memories and lots of new friends. My friend Kordt Larsen produced a short documentary film on the Chicago Sketch Seminar 2014 – shown in the beginning of this post. (Here’s a link to it – https://vimeo.com/100442711)

For more photos and details see USk Chicago Sketch Seminar blog where our Correspondent Andrew Banks published 3 part article on the event:

USk Chicago Sketch Seminar – Part 1

USk Chicago Sketch Seminar – Part 2

USk Chicago Sketch Seminar – Part 3

Flemish Technique – a workshop

flemish method

I opened another can of worms and started teaching oil painting. I know, I am amazed myself, lol!

But it is true – a new workshop on Flemish Technique or 7 Layers Method of oil painting is now available live in my studio in Chicago or … wait for this … online via Skype for long distance students!

I am totally lucky and blessed with the greatest students in the world. Two students – Tom and Paul – attend the In-Studio class, and we are currently working on our 3rd (out of 7) layer – the Umber layer.

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One brave soul – Jana – is taking an online version of the class, and we are currently working on the 4th layer – the Dead layer. Jana takes an active part in streamlining the online class, which for various reasons cannot follow the same format as the Studio workshop. We held several sessions on Skype and tried Google Hangouts. Google comes with an added benefit of recording the session, which we have done.

Jana and her painting 2013-07-16 web

Skype session with Jana and her completed Umber layer

Everybody is working very hard, and some fantastic paintings Flemish style will soon be available for viewing !

For workshop details, outline, hours and prices – comment here or communicate via email/fb/phone or homing pigeon :).