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Author: Carol L. Douglas

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Shelli Ardizzone and Carol Douglas at RiverWinds Gallery until June 9

From left: Virginia Donovan, Carol Douglas, Mary Ann Glass, Shelli Robiner-Ardizzone, and Linda Hubbard. (Photo by Jim Cypher, The Cypher Agency)

Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Monday 12 – 6pm, Beacon Second Saturday 12 – 9pm
RiverWinds is located on Main Street, in Beacon – number 172 – one and a half blocks east from Route 9D on the north side of Main Street – just past Hudson Beacon Glass in the old Beacon Firehouse 162 Main Street.
The gallery is easy to find, not far from Dia: Beacon or the Train Station. And there is lots to see and do in Beacon. Check the http://www.beaconarts.org/ for information about restaurants, shops and other galleries Beacon.

Shelli Robiner-Ardizzone

Carol L. Douglas

What a delightful opening we had! RiverWinds Gallery is operated by three delightful and professional women–Linda Hubbard, Mary Ann Glass, and Virginia Donovan. The show is beautifully curated and the opening was delightful, with friends old and new in attendance.
For more information and images from this show, see here.
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Lilac’s 75th Birthday

When in New York recently, I joined a friend painting on Pier 40 (at the foot of Houston Street). I painted a small oil sketch of two of the tugboat Lilac’s stacks, which reminded me, for some reason, of my twin daughters. The oil sketch will be available—among many other works—at the celebration of the Lilac’s 75th birthday on Memorial Day weekend.

Hours are:
Saturday, May 24—10 AM to 6 PM
Sunday, May 25—10 AM to 6 PM
Monday, May 26—10 AM to 9 PM

(I won’t be at the artists’ reception, but it’s from 4-8 PM on Monday.)

A percentage of the sale of paintings will go to support renovation efforts for the Lilac.

“Twins”
8×10 oil sketch by little ol’ me

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Enough about those kids!

One of my adult students, Anne Christner, with her pastel portrait of her daughter Sarah. It’s an excellent likeness, and a real step forward. Brava, Anne!
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Trip to Ghost Ranch in AbiquiĂş, NM added to Taos workshop

“When I got to New Mexico, that was mine.”

That was how Georgia O’Keeffe described her instant love for northern New Mexico, which she first visited in 1917 Although she never owned Ghost Ranch, she eventually purchased a small home there and later a home in nearby AbiquiĂş. (Learn more about Ghost Ranch here.)

We have added a guided tour of this area (which she loved, explored, painted, and lived in for over 50 years) to our “Paint the Magic and Mystery of Taos” workshop, from June 15-21, 2008. This is optional and requires a ticket at $25.


Tour update

This trip is selling well, and we have a few openings left. I’m getting pretty jazzed about it myself.

I plan to pick up tour participants at Albuquerque Airport on Sunday, June 15 (if you arrive at a different time, there’s a shuttle available to Taos). On Sunday evening, we’ll relax over dinner at the Sagebrush Inn and get to know each other.

I am always excited to get to work right away and I bet you’re the same. In the morning, we’ll get right down to the business of painting. Then, while you eat your lunch and relax, Shelli or I will demo in a variety of media.

We’re visiting Ghost Ranch on Friday. We’ll bring our supplies so we can get one work session in that day. On Saturday we’ll help you pack and ship your stuff and get you back to Albuquerque for the trip home.

Your fee of $1200 includes workshop instruction, five days of painting in special selected plein air locations, lodging and two meals per day at the historic Sagebrush Inn. (http://www.sagebrushinn.com/)

Painters are welcome to work in oils, pastels, acrylics and watercolor. Materials list and daily schedule will be supplied upon registration. A branch of Artisans art store is nearby. (http://www.artisan-santafe.com/)

Travel arrangements and fees

Call Jeannie at Esplanade Travel to reserve your workshop space with a $550 deposit. She’s at (718) 597-1414 or [email protected]. She can also help with your flight arrangements if you wish.

Shelli Robiner-Ardizzone has led workshops for 8 years at the Women’s Studio Center, LIC, and at Great Neck Arts Center. She has been awarded a residency at the Vermont Studio Center and grants from National Academy School and Art Students League.

Carol L. Douglas (moi) is the chairperson of New York Plein Air Painters and teaches plein air, studio and figure painting in Rochester, NY. She studied at the Art Students League and elsewhere. (http://www.watchmepaint.blogspot.com%20/and http://www.goaway-letmepaint.com/)

For a brochure you can print, go here.

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The Kung Fu Fighters

I have recently had the opportunity to work with two young artists preparing portfolios for college. (Their work follows in the posts below.) They are laughingly called my Art Slaves since they have been in my studio seven days a week. One of my adult students wondered why they make such swift progress and she doesn’t. “If you’re willing to be chained to an easel seven days a week and do what you’re told, you can do it too,” I said. (But the charm of adult learners is that they are individualistic, stubborn, and idiosyncratic, and I wouldn’t have them any other way.)

Neither Sandy nor Ze had ever painted in oils before December. That they each have an oil painting in their portfolio is an indication of how hard they’ve worked.

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Completed portfolio: Sandy Puifong Quang

Sandy Puifong Quang is 19 and will graduate from Monroe Community College in May with an AS in liberal arts and a GPA of around 3.5. Although she has always loved design, Sandy didn’t know she loved art until she began taking studio classes at MCC. Sandy speaks three dialects of Chinese along with some Russian and French. Her family are refugees from the fall of Vietnam and run a restaurant in Rochester.

Sandy started working with me seriously in the summer of 2007, although I have known her for many years.

Self-portrait with catalogs, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007

Peonies life drawing, graphite, approx. 18X20, 2007

Skeleton life drawing, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2007

Peonies life drawing, pastel, approx. 9X12, 2008

Patrick, oil on canvas, approx. 18X24, 2008

My parents’ restaurant, graphite on paper, approx. 16X18, 2008

Sneakers and keys, graphite on paper, approx. 18X18, 2007

Gourds and squash, watercolor, approx. 20X20, 2007

Fred, collage, approx. 12X9, 2006

30-minute figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007

My room and gnome, collage and graphite, approx. 12X12, 2007

Figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007

Figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007

Figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007

Figure sketch, graphite on paper, approx. 18X24, 2007
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Completed portfolio: Zeyuan Chen

Zeyuan Chen is 17 and will graduate from Brighton High School in June with three APs and a GPA of around 3.7. Ze emigrated from Kunming Prefecture at age 9. Her native language is Mandarin but she speaks flawless English. Ze’s father is a professor in China and her mother trained as a mathematician but works as a waitress here. (She completed this portfolio while maintaining excellent grades at one of the top 100 public high schools in the US.)
Ze started studying with me in Fall 2007, although I’ve known her for much longer than that. She has studied Chinese calligraphy and painting, which is evident in the delicate brush work of her piece, Qing Yi, which is a setting of a friend’s poem.

Self-portrait, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2007

Sandy’s parents’ restaurant interior, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2008


Gail as Isabella with the pot of Basil, oil on canvas, approx. 18X24, 2008
Four bananas, colored pencil, approx. 18X24 overall, 2007

Peonies life drawing, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2007
My shoe, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2007
Qing Yi, colored pencil and ink calligraphy, approx. 18X24, 2007
Skeleton life drawing, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2008
Sock, graphite, approx. 18X24, 2008
Pile of shoes, marking pen on newsprint, approx. 18X18, 2006
Foot, graphite, approx. 9X12, 2008
Shoes, colored pencil and marking pen, approx. 18X24, 2005
Classroom window molding, graphite, approx. 18X24,
10-minute figure sketch, marking pen, approx. 18X24, 2005

Mary as John the Baptist (unfinished), acrylic on canvas, approx. 18X24, 2007

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Paint Taos June 15-21, 2008

Save $100
Register by February 20, 2008
Esplanade Travel (718) 597-1414
[email protected]
[email protected]
Along the Rio Grande, by little old me

June is the perfect time for plein air painting in Taos! Join workshop instructors Shelli Robiner-Ardizzone and Carol L. Douglas and experience the beauty and majesty of the western landscape that captivated Georgia O’Keeffe, Nicolai Fechin and many others.

WORKSHOP

The fee of $1200 includes five days of painting, lodging at the historic Sagebrush Inn and two meals per day.

There will be both morning and afternoon painting sessions en plein air with a midday break for lunch. The days will also include individualized instruction along with instructor demos.
Painters are welcome to work in oils, pastels, acrylics and watercolor. Materials list and daily schedule will be supplied upon registration A branch of Artisan-Santa Fe art store is nearby.
For more information about instruction, contact Shelli Ardizzone.

TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS AND FEES

Call Jeannie at Esplanade Travel to coordinate flights and lodging reservation, at (718) 597-1414 or email her here.

Reserve your workshop space with a $550 deposit by March 1, 2008.

INSTRUCTORS

Shelli Robiner-Ardizzone has led workshops for 8 years at the Women’s Studio Center, LIC, and at Great Neck Arts Center. She has been awarded a residency at the Vermont Studio Center and grants from the National Academy School and Art Students League. (http://www.shellirobiner-ardizzone.com/)

Carol L. Douglas is the chairperson of New York Plein Air Painters and teaches plein air, studio and figure painting in Rochester, NY. She studied at the Art Students League and elsewhere. (http://www.goaway-letmepaint.com/)