Many of you know that I was at a Janet Rogers workshop this last week at Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff in Boone, NC.  I met some fabulous new friends and amazing artists.  Janet is very improvisational, which suits me and certainly got me motivated.  I learned a lot about shadow shapes and am finding new ways to paint them – it’s a negative space exercise.  This makes you think backwards, really.  Instead of outlining the figure, face or flower, you paint the shadows.  Very challenging.

What I really loved was the Eye exercise – the half-face to be exact.  I’ve spent a lot of time gazing at the loose pastels of Virginia St. John where she puts in just a few lines and gestures to indicate and inform us on who’s there.  Imagine my ecstacy when my Eye painting reminded me of her.  Maybe she’s in heaven looking over my shoulder.  I miss her every day that I paint and am so grateful for her fabulous works.