What Is A Studio?

Every place I've lived in during my many moves has had a space dedicated to painting. Sometimes it's been a huge room. Sometimes like now while I'm traveling, it's a corner in a tiny room.
But a studio is also a place to gather and learn from other artists.Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Hai-Ou Hou at her Chesapeake Fine Art Studio in Maryland.

Christensen demo for students and visitors

I participated in a workshop and watched some amazing demos. Later I  came back and painted with Hai-ou's students who meet on Monday and Tuesday each week. The studio itself is a large open space with huge windows and rolling partitions. There's plenty of room and light.
Hai-Ou's line up of workshop teachers is impressive. So many of today's successful artists are teaching there that anyone looking for a workshop is bound to find someone they would like to study under. While students and teacher are busy in the workshop, Hai-Ou efficiently and energetically keeps everything flowing smoothly behind the scenes.

Hai-Ou also teaches workshops and holds an open studio day when she isn't painting at one of the national plein paint-out events she is so often invited to.

A corner of the studio in a rare moment of inactivity

Hai-Ou envisions Chesapeake Fine Art Studio as a space where artists can gather and paint together in an atmosphere of fun and camaraderie, while helping each other become better artists. It's also a space where art lovers can gather, watch how art is created and add new work to their collections. A perfect studio!

Hai-Ou  with students during open studio time

Christensen Workshop Experience

I'm fresh from a 5 day Scott Christensen that was without question, the best thing I ever did for my art. I've had my eye on his workshops for a while now and as soon as I saw one I could attend on this side of the country, I jumped on it. The workshop was held at Chesapeake Fine Art Studio in Maryland. It's a beautiful large space run by Hai-ou Hou, a very accomplished artist herself, who made everything flow seamlessly throughout the week.

Maryland in November can either be Indian Summer or edge of winter. On the night before the workshop began, an arctic air mass dipping all the way down to Florida, settled in for the week. I'd brought lots of layers of warm clothing, and I needed them all to deal with the wind, rain and freezing temperatures. For those who didn't want to venture outside, the studio had floor to ceiling windows with a view of farm fields and woods.

I wasn't sure what to expect of the workshop especially since I had never attended one, but I had the advantage of knowing exactly what I was looking for to improve my work. I've also been painting long enough that I was confident I'd be able to understand the concepts that would be presented. The workshop far exceeded what I anticipated. Scott shared his knowledge and experience very generously. I'd been led to believe he could be aloof or lacking communication skills but nothing could be further from the truth. My concerns and questions were always met with precisely the right information and a genuine interest in seeing that I understood the teaching point.

I loved seeing how he worked through his idea on a constantly changing and evolving canvas, while he searched for the right combination of shape, value, color etc that best manifested the idea. Watching that approach will forever put to rest the idea that getting it right the first time is the proof of ability. I also liked his clear minded view of the current practices of plein air painting.

By the end of the workshop I was filled with such a wealth of valuable information that I have plenty to work with for a while. I have a new tool kit that I'm excited to play with!

Talking About Plein Air

A few days ago, I was invited by the Gulf Breeze Arts Association to speak to their members about plein air painting. Most of these enthusiastic artists had never painted en plein air. My job was to talk to them about how to get started.

 I showed the group the difference between a studio painting and works painted outdoors. After talking briefly about the history of plein air painting, I compared historic approaches of working outdoors, to the current debates concerning whether a plein air painting needs to be completed in one go and without revision

talking about why I don't recommend this plein air umbrella

 I brought examples of my own work, demonstrating that the reasons for painting a plein air piece can vary. Some  were 1 hour quick studies painted to understand a painting problem or to gather information. Others I'd painted by returning to the same place several times. Still others I had started outdoors and then finished in the studio.

Next I talked about the options for field easels, color choices, and the little extras like water, sunscreen and bug repellent that are so necessary for outdoor painting in Florida.

tools of the trade

On April 5th, we'll put it all together in a 4 hour Getting Started in Plein Air workshop. If you're in the Pensacola area and would like to join in, contact me for information.