Open Studio Tour and Sale…. virtually
So, as the world stood still over these past 22 months, we all searched for unique ways to hold on to our sanity and to continue to live our lives as fully as we could given the risk factors. For me, that involved learning to create live, intimate and interactive video classes…. and lots and lots of paintings… Almost 200 of them.
The teaching has been amazingly fulfilling. First, I got to be part of a wonderful community of artists (my students) with whom I was in creative dialog every week. Secondly, I was challenged to develop a unique format for teaching on an online platform. I set out to create a class that took full advantage of the interactive nature of ZOOM and allowed the entire classroom to look over my shoulder. I found myself identifying and exploring the fundamental, teachable elements that are the basis for watercolor painting— skills and concepts which I had often rushed through during in-person classes where I wanted to make sure students got enough studio time.
The feedback from students and the growth that I have seen in their work has been astounding. Although I often have students doing an exercise at the beginning of class, most of their actual painting time occurs during the week between classes, when they are busy creating work that they will send me to critique and share during the following week’s class. Students are forced to carve out their own painting time (many have told me that previously they didn’t paint between classes), and to be more independent in their painting practice. The student paintings I have been seeing are becoming much bolder and more personal and students seem more willing to take risks.
As for my work, it has also changed. For most of the last two years, I have painted in front of a virtual audiencethree to four times a week. Each week, I explore the same concepts for each group of students, essentially creating a weekly series of paintings. Articulating those concepts as I work has force me to develop more of a visual confidence which I think has made my work stronger and more successful. Addressing specific subject areas that student request has expanded my own skills.
What I have missed is a forum to show the work that I have been creating week after week. It has been over two and half years since I have had a solo show, as many of the venues where I have previously hung work now have limited foot-traffic. Gathering paintings for a solo show, has always given me a way to reflect on an entire body of work as well as to share it with others.
At last, I have culled from the many paintings which I have created during this time (many of them begun as demonstrations for my online classes) to create an online open studio tour which I have entitled “While the World Stood Still.” If you are reading this on my website, you can navigate to it by clicking on “Online Gallery” Please take some time to look at the paintings (which can be viewed by subject matter by choosing a specific collection.)
Most are for sale, and I welcome inquiries.
Enjoy! Marilyn
