A Dream Come True - My Workshop With Carolyn Anderson

I’ve long wanted to take a workshop with a respected painter, and Carolyn Anderson has been at the top of my list ever since I was exposed to her work in art school. Her paintings really push boundaries with regard to high-key color and impressionism, and these qualities have always resonated with me. Imagine my delight when I saw she was conducting a workshop in a town 10 minutes away from my Grandmother’s farmhouse in Miamisburg, Ohio!

 
It felt like fate; the timing and location were perfect. I’ve been working at my craft since completing graduate work for over 10 years, and I believed that I’d laid down enough brush mileage on my own and was ready for the next level in instruction. I’d also be able to offset the costs of tuition and travel by staying with family in the next town over.

What was Carolyn like?...bright-eyed and keenly observant with a quirky sense of humor. Her lectures were a fascinating blend of science and intuition; she talked a lot about the science of seeing and how to avoid visual pit-falls in your paintings. It was intoxicating to be in an environment dedicated to fine art for 4 days straight. The whole class was conducted in a downtown, two-story townhouse which served as art gallery and home to our generous hostess, and we would break for lunch at a bistro less than five minutes walk away. My classmates were mostly from Ohio; but I was not the only out-of-towner. A few of the ladies flew in from California, and there was one gentleman who came all the way from England! It was an interesting mix, and I enjoyed talking with everyone.

But of course, watching Carolyn paint was what we were all there for. I was astonished at the simplicity of her approach. Most of her color mixing was done very quickly on her palette with her paint brush-no palette knife involved once she got going. She laid out all the basic colors first: violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, brown, white. If she thought a paint stroke needed more yellow then she added more yellow. If she thought it needed more red, then she added more red. You could really see that she was “feeling” her way through the demos, that they were truly a process of discovery. And her paint application is very thin and dry on a fine linen surface, thus the wondrous transparent quality of her colors. This kind of insight can only be gained from watching the artist at work.

It was a wonderful experience, truly worthwhile. She challenged me in ways I expected and in ways I did not. I will be bringing her thoughts with me to my easel for some time to come, and my work will be all the better for it.