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3 Secrets to a Creative Summer
Summer is a season that represents optimism and boundless freedom. Although I’ve been out of school for several decades and work year round, I always associate this time of year with my childhood summer break from school. When school started in September it only took until about Halloween that I was already day dreaming about those precious 3 months of summer break. Who could I be? What would I do? What could I experience? With June upon us, it’s the perfect opportunity to ask ourselves those same questions, and dream up a summer time filled with creative experiences to fuel us through the long winter months. Let’s ask ourselves those…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan. It’s definitely one of my favorite places in all of New York City, and the area I frequently stay when I visit. When I lived in New York City many moons ago, I rarely went to midtown. I was a student (in graduate school) and midtown catered to the working world. I did go to Grand Central Station frequently as I’d take the train out to Connecticut to visit my sister, but in general, I roamed all the other neighborhoods for my NYC energy, not midtown. Fast forward to today, and I can’t get enough of midtown Manhattan. It fuels me with energy. I’m convinced it’s because of…
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Come Explore Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way with Creativity!
Come explore the rugged coast of Ireland and learn how to capture and paint a layered landscape of the Wild Atlantic Way! We will focus our tour on the Dingle Peninsula where we will explore the small port town with its colorful buildings and fishing boats. Then, we will “drive” along the coast and paint the stunning rugged coastline dotted with cottages, sheep and historic sites. This online class will begin with a “virtual trip” to Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way where I will share with you loads of inspirational photos of the area. Following we will discuss a tried and true technique for making inspiring landscape art, then we will…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: GREEN
This week we will be inspired by the color GREEN! Yes, as simple as that. Picking a color is truly one of my favorite kinds of art prompts. It may seem too simple, but trust me, you can make it as complicated (or not) as you like! When my kids were young, I used a color prompt all the time when we were traveling. I’d ask them to pick a color that morning before we headed out to tour around. The instructions were basic, when they would see the color, they would snap a quick picture. It could be nature, scenery, an object, something someone was wearing, food, whatever they…
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Let’s Go to Hawaii and Paint Tropical Fish
Who doesn’t want to head to the tropics? Come on a virtual trip to Hawaii with me and let’s dive into the water and learn how to draw and watercolor tropical fish in this quick how to video! Be sure to pause the video along the way so you can practice drawing fun fish shapes, and adding splashes of watercolor in your favorite colors!
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Inspired by Maui, Hawaii
Maui, the second largest island in the Hawaiian island chain behind the Big Island of Hawaii, is nicknamed the Valley Isle. This name derives from the fact that the island is made up of two volcanoes (a volcanic doublet), where the lava flowed between the two to create an isthmus or valley connecting them. The older volcano to the west rises 5,777 feet above sea level and the younger volcano, Haleakala is more than 10,000 feet above sea level! Like most islands, Maui is filled with microclimates, from extremely wet areas to drier regions; warm regions to surprisingly cold ones (10,000’ elevation on Haleakala will do that, even if on…
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Art Lesson in Less than 5 Minutes: Learn How to Draw and Paint Decorative Masks
Follow along to this quick art lesson as I walk you through the process of learning how to draw and watercolor decorative masks one might see at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Carnevale in Venice, Canaval do Brasil or at a masked ball any time of year!
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15 Minute Art Lesson: Learn How to Draw a Historic New Orleans Home
Follow along with this ~15 minute lesson and learn how to draw a New Orleans Garden District house, the Morris-Israel Home. We will virtually travel to NOLA where I will tell you a little about the house. Then, I will teach you a doodle approach to drawing the iron work sometimes called “iron lace” to give the impression of intricacy yet with a loose impressionistic approach. Following this lesson will not only show you how to draw this specific New Orleans home, but also teach your techniques to be able to draw houses and building around the world with similar ornate ironwork detailing. Be sure to share this video and…
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15 Minute Art Lesson: Paint a Ski Mountain
It’s hard to find time to create art. I get it! Even though this is my profession, I can find it challenging too, yet devoting just 10 or 15 minutes can make me feel so good! I’ll be releasing a bunch of new short art lesson videos on You Tube over the next coming months with this heuristic in mind – quick, fun, easy 10-20 minute art lessons you can do and feel great about the outcome. First up, painting a ski mountain! Learn How to Paint a Ski Mountain Painting snow in watercolor can be quite challenging, as snow is inherently white, and although white does appear in many…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Ski Week
The long days of winter can be exhausting for many in cold climates. I wonder if that is why schools across America embraced the notion of “Ski Week.” It’s not officially called this, it’s usually referred to as winter break, but out here in California, many call it ski week as people love to adventure to Lake Tahoe or other ski areas and celebrate the snow. I was fortunate to grow up going to Lake Tahoe often as a child. My grandparents had a condo at Lake Tahoe and this is where we spent many, many winter weekends and vacations. My dad loved to ski – even his dad was…
