Paintings from Plein Air Events

Port Washington, WI

"Easy Street Pub"  Cedarburg, WI

This past month I participated in four plein air events and had so much fun despite the bad weather.  I think after painting through the winter a little storm & lightening doesn't bother me anymore.

2012 Events

Plein Air Workshop: Effective Outdoor Painting in Oils
(16x20 oil by Karen Phipps)
Location: Taos, New Mexico
Dates: April 26, 27, 28, 29, 2012
Cost: $335.
For Advanced Beginners through Intermediate Oil Painters.

Join award winning artists and popular instructors, Karen Phipps and Susan Hong-Sammons, in this four-day plein air painting workshop. We will be painting in the beautiful setting of Taos. You will learn practical tips for setting up on location, working quickly and directly from nature, all with oil paints. We will cover equipment options to keep your gear simple and pared down, using a limited palette, focusing on big shapes, clean color, compositions, finding a focus and simple value patterns in order to capture the essence of the scene. The goal in this workshop is to learn how to take the scene before us, translate it into a simple and expressive composition, and then paint it quickly, directly, and confidently. After the 3 days of guided painting exercises and daily critiques, we will spend the 4th day painting more independently at a location with the group, followed by an afternoon critique and closing “wrap-up” session.
Compact supply list, syllabus, as well as recommended housing/B&Bs near to painting locations.



The Landscape of Riverside: Works Inspired by Nature
Oil Painters Karen Phipps, Susan Hong-Sammons, Ellie McDonald, photographer Sophia Soluri, and poems by Rachel Noelle will present new works inspired by the local landscape and nature of Riverside at the Riverside Public Library during the months of December and January. The show can be seen in the library's exhibit hall.
















Oil Painting with Expressive Realism
January 25 - March 7, 2012 9:30-1:30
Hinsdale Center for the Arts www.hinsdalearts.org

See the world with an artistic eye. Susan’s approach helps you to break down the process of producing a painting, in the studio, into its core components: design, main masses, mixing accurate color, value, and apply paint effectively all from direct observation. Individual and group critiques generously given daily.
Class supply list available at registration

Transmitted Light 12"x12" oil on linen

Now that Thanksgiving is over and thanks to my sweet mother-in-law, I've an extra 5 lbs to shed due to her amazing six homemade pies,... it is time to get back into the studio. I'm painting for a three person show which opens 2010 so my postings will be limited until I can finish a few large-scale paintings. But here is what I originally set up as a fabric study but once again realized that it's really all about value. This piece was extra tricky for me as the light flowed through the fabric in many areas as well as picked up various subtle tones from the back and foreground. I used a palette knife for most of the time but grabbed a sable brush in the end to calm down some strokes in the shadow. I think I could have used several more hours to answer more questions but I decided to stop with this one and be happy with what I learned.