Horse (my own reference)

Last week, I took my second workshop with a Kentucky Derby poster alumnus!

This workshop had been on my radar for a while. It was part of the International Society of Experimental Artists (ISEA) convention taking place in Grand Haven, Michigan. As I live in Oregon, plans had been made and refined for many weeks in order to attend this event. Other than picking up a cold (huge surprise), the travel to and from the workshop was uneventful. I came back to pets who had received a lot of food, so they were happy.

Excitingly, at the convention, I found out that my painting “Gifts” had received a prize from the International Society of Acrylic Painters (website not located)! It was a really lovely show. Seeing it in person, as many of the pieces were 3-D (or really enhanced 2-D) made the whole thing even more special.

“Gifts” was a piece that came together through serendipity, so it was a surprise when I saw that I hadn’t finished it. God (or UPS) had made one last edit. I had the piece framed “floating”, rather than with a mat that would cover the edges. During shipping, one of the mounts broke, and the painting tilted in the frame. I asked a couple people for their opinion, and we decided to that the “mistake” added something to the piece. And so, it stands.

Pencil to Brush: Knitting Together Line, Color and Form with Kimberly Kelly Santini

I have been following Kimberly Kelly Santini since her 2015 Kentucky Derby poster. In that time, her style has shifted, but her paintings remain compelling and attractive. Her online presence (videos, Facebook, Instagram) is inspiring and thoughtful. I have thought about taking online classes from her, but I have never pulled the plug. I may have to reconsider that decision.

During the workshop, Kimberly was generous with material and thoughtful with time management. She asked participants to respect her content, so I will not post many of the handouts she provided. Prior to the workshop, to save time, Kimberly sent a series of videos to watch. These covered “basics” such as color and palette setup. I was most intrigued by her video on “must haves”. Kimberly has a list of must haves in her paintings that she adjusts and refines regularly. Applying these principles to my own practice has been hard. So far, the only one I have been able to identify is confidence. I’m toying with adding story and humor.

Day 1 began with contour drawing: simple, blind, double blind, and memory. Kimberly provided a set of fox reference photos.

We then “activated” these drawings by spreading mat medium over them. Drawings that had been done with water-activated media became more interesting. Kimberly encouraged us to find exciting passages and put those together using tissue paper. One thing I need to work on in my own practice is the idea of varying lines. During these parts of the day, I truly struggled. A line is a (heavy) line in my hand, though I love line variation in others. After lunch, the class came back and concentrated on drawing florals, using the same methods, then adding the “exciting” parts to a potential start for the next day. In her own paintings, Kimberly often captures landscapes or flowers inside the animals, or places multiple skies in the painting. The idea was to combine what made us happy and think beyond that “perfect” drawing.

While the class was working, Kimberly was drawing as well. Between drawing times, she gave a series of short lectures on her own art practice, the development of specific paintings, and evaluating your own work.

Day 2 was painting day. Kimberly emphasized these were paintings starts and that we would take these back to our studio to finish. Her emphasis was demonstrating the flexibility of her process. Rather than thinking of the initial drawing as something that must remain untouched, she demonstrated painting over, around, and through that initial drawing. She shaped and changed the painting, adding additional drawing as she needed and encouraging the class to really test their boundaries.

It comes as no surprise that I whole-heartedly jumped into painting and worked on four paintings throughout the day (yes, a class record).

All of these paintings need a lot more analysis and some amount of extra work before I consider them finished. But I am excited about what I see. In Kimberly’s words: “I win!”

Like the day before, Kimberly demonstrated and provided mini lectures on various points. One thing I really enjoyed, though Kimberly couldn’t have controlled this, was the quality of questions that were asked, as well as her replies. As someone who believes you can ask a stupid question, it was WONERFUL to have a class concentrating on questions about content (“How accurate does your drawing have to be?”) instead of method (“What color blue is that?”). Kimberly’s answers were thoughtful and encouraging.

It was also refreshing to be in a workshop full of animal lovers. I spoke to another participant about the stresses of being an animal painter, sharing stories about verbal pats on the head when telling instructors or other students that you like to paint birds, horses, etc. There is sometimes a real prejudice about the subject matter which can be hurtful.

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

The conference was going on until Saturday, but I had elected to fly out on Saturday due to airfare prices. While there were several things that I could have attended on Friday, after Kimberly’s workshop ended, I decided to go back to Grand Rapids and tour the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. This was an excellent decision.

Hands down, my favorite piece was Deborah Butterfield‘s “Cabin Creek”. The photos above do not adequately express the power of this work in the space around it. Again and again during this tour, I found myself marveling at how the sculptures were married to their landscapes. I asked a docent, and she told me that the artists often come and help design the space around their installation. Each piece made me more conscious of the SPACE around it, whether that space was sky, wind, or fauna.

Michigan is a muggy place, and in order to survive, I didn’t push myself to see everything. If I ever go back, I’m going to mark out two days to explore this magnificent place.

Conclusion

This workshop was affordable, but the trip was relatively expensive with airfare, hotels, etc. It was nice to get a monetary prize to offset some of that. Regardless, I came home with a great deal to consider and apply to my painting practice. Will I switch to an acrylic painter? Anything is possible.