This week I had a wonderful workshop review from one of my students from the Emerald Art Center workshop. I will be posting an excerpt on my Workshops Page, but I wanted to share it with you in its entireity.

After two weeks of sort of catching up and unpacking, I finally got back into the studio yesterday. One of the things I was experimenting with was my new Gelli Plate.

I don’t have much to show for my endeavors, but I can say that I see this will be a valuable addition to my process. If you’ve never heard of Gelli Plates before, here is a link to their product page. It is packed with examples of prints, videos, and more. You can also look up videos of how to make your own plate on youtube. I may try that next.

Without further ado, here is one review of my latest workshop:

“It was fun and pleasurable taking the workshop from you.    It was the first time I’ve tried abstract and it was the first time I tried non-watercolor materials (my first watercolor class was last May).    Today I’m creating only abstract and using a full sheet and my favorite pigments-thank you for pushing me out of my safe and comfortable zone and into a playful way of using color and shapes.

I emailed the picture you took of me, holding up my abstract  fish.  My granddaughters loved the picture and  how happy and playful I look.

You asked for comments about the workshop:

1.       The strongest attribute in the workshop is your personality (non-judgmental, gracious, playful, joyful, spontaneous, kind); and

2.       The second strongest attribute is your introducing us to watercolor without shadows and other rules.

Your workshops were informational about myself.   I felt a bit shy and clumsy trying watercolor without rules.   At the University I took art design and loved it but did not follow my pleasure; instead I stuck to a professional  path in tax law-dry, dry, and without color except for rare epiphanies.   I promised myself that when I retired I could revisit art and immerse myself if painting was still a passion.   My first experience with watercolor was chaotic and full of surprises.  I was enchanted.   Your workshop encouraged me to dip my brush in more playfulness with color and shape.    Thank you for the environment that allowed me to explore watercolor and to discover that it’s okay to color without lines.”

-S. Jewett