Seriously, I really am making a go of it - back to the studio!

Andy Evansen's class in Terracotta Art site - getting me back to watercolor. St Paul's Cathedral exercise.

I've decided to use this blog to document my long absence from my beautiful studio. For years, I was able to paint multiple times a week and really grow with my practice. I took workshops, went to local meetings, spent time learning and really felt like it would go on just like that.

But, when without real warning or extensive planning, we were offered a great price on our Vermont home, we had 45 days to pack it up, find a new home in Virginia, sell our little cabin to make it work and then unpack our life in a new state. For me, that's after 30 years in Vermont. So it was A LOT!

I did set up the studio, but my daughter got married which was a lovely diversion from art, and I didn't leave my VT job - so I needed to make monthly weeklong trips back - usually by car which involved two weekends a month. This sort of "did in" my flow. I tried now and again to learn through courses and spark an interest. I've taken a crazy amount of reference photos in the past 2-1/2 years and painted a rare few. My skills were sadly taking a big hit and I think that also had an impact on my willingness to dive in. Then my little grandson was born in May and of course another focus for my non-work time. The best kind!

Now, as 2025 hits, I am only working remotely (for the past two months) and only two days a week through June. I signed up for Andy's Terracotta course: Loose and Vivid Landscapes https://terracotta.art/video/loose-vivid-landscapes that I hadn't taken yet. This time, with the extra open time in my life, I seem to be working into a habit. I can't recommend anything Andy Evansen enough, and Terracotta has some great offerings, too. But seriously, Andy's method of teaching is perfect for me.

I'll keep documenting my progress (in part to make myself keep going! The bottom photo above is Andy's course. I have also signed up for the Terracotta 3 day World of Watercolor with 15 artists including some really great ones I've wanted to take a workshop from. A pretty big commitment!

Then, in September I signed up for Virginia Watercolor Society's weeklong workshop: Fearless Painting: Land, City and Sky in Watercolor with Iain Stewart - and we booked a cabin nearby for the week so Howard and Marty will be hiking the trails while I am out painting with the workshop. So - see? I am really serious!