Sunday, August 28, 2011

August 2011 Workshop

The Academic Figure and Landscape workshop that we put on this August was a fantastic experience. Students came from all over the country to study with some leading artists. The idea behind the workshop was to bring together the ideals and methods from the Florence Academy of Art, the Angel Academy of Art and the Grand Central Academy of Art under one roof. We had two models (one set up in a typical Academic Nude pose and the other in a fully staged figure setting) that we worked on for 5 hours a day, 6 days a week from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday-Saturday. We then went landscape painting from 4-7 in the evenings. The time flew by much faster than expected. It's hard to believe it's over. Here are some photos of our experience. The following are photos of me and my model Katie Leishman and my awesome seamstress Meadow Alexander working on designing the dress for the workshop setup.







Here is my thumbnail sketch to work out the composition.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

A Hidden Gem - Kamille Corry


Since my return from Florence in 2008, I have felt a bit isolated as a an artist. The environment, conversation and culture that I was able to experience every day in Florence didn't exist here in Utah. Or so I thought. Recently, I was able to visit Kamille Corry's studio in Salt Lake. I have met her before, but briefly. And at the time I was too naive to see what a brilliant mind she had and how artistically mature she was. I'm very excited to get to know her more. She is such a cool person and incredibly talented. I only wish I could have realized this sooner.
The photo was taken Sunday when Jordan Sokol, Travis Seymour and I visited her studio for a few hours. Jordan and Travis are in town from Florence and North Carolina to teach at the month long workshop I am putting on at the Center for Academic Study & Naturalist Painting.