Next: The Castle!!

Even though I've been talking about my France Castle workshop for a while now, it's not happening till Sept 5 and we're really gearing up for it now!

Bordeaux, France

I'll be joined first in Bordeaux (for 5 days) by 6 in my group (you know who you are!!) so we can get over jet lag and do some sightseeing (and wine tasting!).  Then we head over to Castle Marouatte about an hour from there, to meet up with 8 more in our group.  Our Castle host is Miles Copeland III, music and entertainment producer, and I'm told he knows how to show folks a great time!

This is what my dining room looks like for now, as I plop down items I don't want to forget...just so I can pull some back out later, when I realize it won't all fit. (it never gets easier!)

WIFI permitting, I shall post photos from our trip while we're gone.  Wish you were coming!

Helen xoxo

Next overseas workshop is VENICE IN APRIL 2020

DETAILS HERE.

Please share with a painting friend!?  Thank you!

READ MY LATEST POST HERE

www.HelenKBeacham.com

"Rialto Market, After Hours" - My Latest Painting

I'm excitedly looking forward to:

a) Teaching my upcoming Venice workshop, which is only about 10 weeks away now!

and

b) Painting more Venice paintings (from my 2013 workshop).  I just love that city to bits. 

After my last trip, I came home with 3600 photos and I've pulled out about 30 that have real good potential for paintings.  Some scenes include the cute little gardens that are tucked away, others are of the well-known areas like St. Mark's Square and the Rialto Bridge, and then some are of the quiet campos where families, young and old, gather every Sunday afternoon.  I often wondered whether they (the old people) minded us sitting on their park benches as we sketched their churches, or whether EVERY Sunday there are some other painters that sit on them anyway.  Are we just fixtures to them?

Below I'll show you a step-by-step of how I painted "Rialto Market, After Hours" (which took me 12 days to draw and paint).  We arrived at the market in the morning, after all the vendors were already set up.  There were all kinds of strange fruits & vegetables to be had, like these:

Produce at the Rialto Market
Any idea what that is?
  

The fish vendors were also out, with seagulls close by, ever vigilant.

After the Rialto Market closes down (sometime after lunch), the vendors hose down the cobblestones and wash away all evidence of the morning's business.  

As my group headed home to our Venetian apartment after our day of painting, I turned to my right and saw this scene before me!  The reflection in the wet cobblestones was a sight to behold!  Here's how I painted what I saw before me (note that there were LOTS of steps in between...to see more of these steps, please visit my Facebook page.)

"Rialto Market, After Hours"
Watercolor on watercolor canvas, by Helen K. Beacham Fine Art
24" x 18", $1900
Available after Feb 11, 2015 through the Mary Martin Gallery of Fine Art

www.helenKbeacham.com

Come paint with me! 

In 2015, we're going to Venice, Niagara Falls, Montreal and so on!!!  
Find details HERE.

Colorful Maine in October!

Now that summer's here (!), it's time to think Fall...and what better place to be in the Fall than with me in Maine when I teach you how to capture her glorious, magical colors in Watercolor on Translucent Yupo!

Hiking Trail in Acadia National Park (photo credit: www.AcadiaMagic.com)

I'm teaching a 5-day Translucent Yupo workshop ("TRANSLUCENT MAGIC")  , hosted by Acadia Workshop Center in Bernard, Maine (near Bar Harbor) from October 6-10, 2014.  (Details HERE).

Fishing in Bar Harbor, ME  (photo credit: www.AcadiaMagic.com)

Bass Harbor.  Photo credit: www.AcadiaMagic.com

Every afternoon, when the sun is just right, we'll explore the outdoors, taking lots of good research photos for our paintings.  During the day, we'll paint indoors where we can take advantage of all that the translucent Yupo has to offer.  Want to learn how I paint on both sides of the Yupo?  You won't believe the stunning glow you can achieve by using this technique!

"Spring" (watercolor on Translucent Yupo) by Helen K. Beacham Fine Art (available for purchase).
This is a scene here in Charleston, SC, but imagine using the same technique for Maine's colors!!!

Sign up today and let's make some MAGIC happen!  Once again, details can be found HERE.

Now for more Maine pictures to tease your senses!  Kudos to Greg A. Hartford with www.AcadiaMagic.com for the magical photographs of Bar Harbor, Bernard and Acadia National Park!

Bar Harbor, ME (photo credit: www.AcadiaMagic.com)

Bar Harbor Fog.  Photo credit: www.AcadiaMagic.com.

Bar Harbor Street.  Photo credit: www.AcadiaMagic.com

Cadillac Mountain.  Photo credit: www.AcadiaMagic.com

Cadillac Mountain Sunrise.  Photo credit: www.AcadiaMagic.com

www.helenKbeacham.com

Come paint Montreal, Maine, and Charleston with me in 2014!  

In May 2015, we go back to Venice!!!  Find details HERE.

SEE MY LATEST POST HERE.   

Venice Behind Me

Back from 2 fab weeks in Venice with my painting students.  As if being a painter isn't already a lot of hard work, now I have to put on my geeky hat and try to figure out the best way to to download 10gb of photos from my camera.  For you non-nerds, that's about 2500 photos.  I already downloaded 867 from my new S4 phone today!  

Next task (after my nap today) is to narrow down my photo selections and choose my top 10 or 12 (!!! can you say "impossible"????)  so that I can start on some studio paintings!

Here are a few teaser photos...wish I could have posted daily to my blog but it was hit or miss with WIFI over there. You might want to sign up (in the right hand column of this blog) to receive my posts automatically via email. I'm looking forward to sharing my trip with you!

Side canals feel so "personal".

Several of my students are kayakers...so, when we saw this unrelated group appear under the bridge, that was pretty darned special for us all!  What a neat way to see Venice!

Peace and quiet...away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist areas.  Which side of Venice do YOU prefer?

Part of the Grand Canal, in all her glory!

I had so many fabulous pastries in Venice...this picture reminds me to step on the scale this morning and see what damage I've done.  Maybe all that walking actually negates the calories ingested!????

How many "laundry" paintings will I end up painting???  I can't tell you how many great shots I have!  Look at the shadows created on the right side of the building!

A Grand Canal gem.  The first few days were cloudy and rainy...as artists, we can take these types of shots and convert them to sunny, happy paintings!  Or, not!

This is how I felt the whole time I walked around this magical city.  She happened to be dancing in front of a hotel on Lido, an island to the right of Venice.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll post more pics and my thoughts about my 2 week Venice trip in the upcoming days.  Have you been to Venice?  Why not share your experiences with us too? I invite you to leave me a comment!

www.helenKbeacham.com

See my latest post HERE.

Dreaming!

Starting to think ahead to my Venice painting workshop (slated for October) and the side trip to Burano (an island in the northern Venetian lagoon).  On my "Love Affair with Italy" blog, I share with you that Burano is  not just about pretty colored houses.  There's the rough and tumble fishing village aspect to it too.  Why not visit my Italy blog (click HERE) and sign up to receive my posts via email (fill in the box on the right hand side of that blog with your email address).

Photo courtesy of www.kimwaltonphotography.co.uk/burano/

Come with me (Helen K. Beacham) and Kelly Medford to paint Venice this October...

Click HERE for details!

See my latest post HERE.

The Aftermath

Piccolo Spoleto (a 17-day art festival in Charleston, SC) is over.  Now I need a week to decompress.  But even THAT has to wait.  Today I must:

- empty the truck and carry every box into the house
- unload every box (wash the glass, wipe down the frames, restock the studio, wash the tent inside & out, reorganize the bins of supplies, wash the curtains and tablecloths that I use as pretty props on my pretend tables, add the non-perishable food and drinks back to the pantry...)
- fulfill my orders (ship out prepaid paintings to my new collectors, get pricing to those asking for commissions and have them sign the contract, start painting the commissions)
- add email addresses to my list if my visitors wanted to receive my future Newsletters
- reorder business cards since I am running low from handing them out, and so on.

I know there's more to do, but I'm making myself tired thinking about it.  There's also the fact that I had pushed back many "things to do" for later this week because of dealing with Spoleto.  So I'll have to pull out the calendar and hop on those as well.  

All in all, it was a very successful show for me and I should stop complaining!  After this week, I'll start thinking about Venice again...my painting workshop is coming up in October and I still have a spot for you in it!  

Come with Helen K. Beacham and Kelly Medford to paint Venice this October...

Click HERE for details!

See my latest post HERE.

Tippette #29 - Plein Air - How to get started

Tippette = Snippet of a Tip (in watercolor).  One per day...during April...right here!  Tell a friend!

Plein Air - How to get started.

Friday, I conducted a 1-day workshop at Four Holes Swamp (Halsey Tract) near Ridgeville, SC (we stopped for lunch at DUKE's BBQ in Ridgeville...well known & loved by locals and visitors). 

Many artists are afraid to paint "en plein air" (outdoors).  I like to expose (pun intended!) more and more artists to that very important aspect of painting.  Many students get spellbound by the beauty in front of them and don't know how to get started...what section should I focus on?  How can I decide what to paint?

One of my students used a homemade viewfinder.
It's made out of foam core and the opening is cut to a proportionate ratio to our 9x12 paper (3:4)

The first thing we do is use our viewfinder (either store bought, or homemade) to scan the scene. We use it both horizontally and vertically to give us many options.  

Using store bought viewfinder..you may draw on it with a dry erase marker.
See details on how to buy one below.

Here I'm using a viewfinder that I bought online (click HERE)...mostly as a demonstration to show how you can easily draw things in perspective.  With this product (which is made of plexiglas AND has a grid on it), you may draw on top of it with a dry erase marker to get the main shapes into position.  Tip: Squint when you look through it so that you don't see a double image!

Fast and easy "dry erase" drawing on my plexi viewfinder, along with a couple of thumbnail sketches.

At this stage, I typically capture the scene with my camera from the angle I'm painting from (if you use your camera or phone to capture the scene, you may also use that as an instant viewfinder, providing you keep the proportions in mind...if your phone screen is not the same size proportionally as your paper, make adjustments accordingly).  If the weather changes and I have to leave the scene, I've got what I need to complete my painting in the studio.  Then I quickly do a few thumbnail sketches to determine what my plan of action will be that day.

My Eric Michael's EN PLEIN AIR PRO EASEL setup.

I start laying down my washes of color (on Friday, I also sketched into the painting with a pen, after the first layer had dried completely...I don't always use pen and ink, but I do always start with a pencil sketch).  Here, below, is my work-in-progress (about 60% done), along with the research photo.  I'll now do some negative painting to pop out some shapes, and I hope to successfully finish the painting (which I'll show you in a future post).  I'm off to a good start.

Work in Progress (Helen K Beacham)

Reference photo taken at the scene while painting.

     

Come with Helen K. Beacham and Kelly Medford to paint Venice this October...

Two Spots Left!

click HERE for details!

www.helenKbeacham.com

Plein Air Painting

One of my students has offered us access to her family's land for a plein air painting outing, coming up soon!  The area is called FOUR HOLES SWAMP (near Ridgeville, SC) and she took a small group of us out there recently to scout it out.  If you're interested in coming along for my upcoming workshop, message me separately please, so I can send you updates as we finalize our plans:  (helenKbeacham@gmail.com).  p.s. don't worry if you've never painted en plein air before...you have to start somewhere and I can show you how!

I'm told that the spring leaves and flowering trees will be splendid out there in the next few weeks!  Here are some pics from a week ago for you to enjoy in the meantime!

Scouting around for the best plein air spots at Four Holes Swamp.

Join Helen & Kelly Medford to paint Venice this October...click HERE for details!

www.helenKbeacham.com

READ MY LATEST POST!

Student's Artwork

www.helenKbeacham.com

It's at times like this that I'm proud to be a teacher!  One of my students (Susan Baughman) just completed this painting which she started in one of my workshops.  She's so in love with painting, and she's dedicated to continually improving her skills (which she obviously has plenty of!!!).  Enjoy!

Watercolor by Susan Baughman

www.helenKbeacham

READ MY LATEST POST!

Spending Time with "Creatives"!

www.helenKbeacham.com

I've been painting with (& teaching) watercolor for so long (30 years) that I don't very often take a watercolor workshop myself anymore.  But I've admired Carol Carter's work for years, and thought it would be fun to spend 3 days with other artists who admired her as well!  Her workshop was organized by the Trenholm Artists Guild in Columbia, SC.

Here's Carol's website, in case you're not familiar with it:  http://www.carol-carter.com/

"Self-Portrait" by Carol Carter

I got to meet lots of new artists, one of whom invited me to stay at her house for the duration of the workshop (thanks, Sonia!).  Her garden was heavenly, and I came home with tons of great photos of hydrangeas (one of my all-time favorite flowers).  You just wanted to cup these flowers in your hands and fondle them!

Now that I'm back in town, I'm looking forward to teaching my next 1-day watercolor workshop, starting tomorrow morning!  Happy Father's Day to everyone today, and I'll see you back here real soon!

www.helenKbeacham.com

Read my latest post!

From watercolor to acrylics!

"Swamp Jewels V" (acrylic) by Helen K. Beacham

I just finished teaching a watercolor workshop this week, where we learned to paint orchids in a beautiful, loose fashion.  This coming Mon-Tues-Wed, I'm teaching an acrylics class where our focus will be to paint a successful painting with fresh color, with as few strokes as possible (because sometimes the simpler, the better!).  My students excite me when their eyes light up during their own, personal aha moments!

Italian Villa for Sale

The "Under the Tuscan Sun" house, in Cortona, Italy, is for sale!  The village of Cortona is where my watercolor workshop will take place in April 2012.  Email me for details!

Click on:  Bramasole for Sale  to view the house's quaint offerings.

Thinking Italian!

Dreaming about my upcoming workshop in Italy next April!  Here's a recipe to give you the urge to join us!  (Thanks to Linda Doeser's "Food of the World: ITALY")

VENETIAN SEAFOOD STEW IN SAFFRON SAUCE  (Serves 4)

8 oz live clams
8 oz live mussels

Scrub the clams and mussels under cold running water and debeard the mussels.  Discard any damaged or broken shellfish and those that do not shut immediately when sharply tapped.  Set aside.

2 T. olive oil
1 onion, sliced
pinch of saffron threads
1 T. chopped fresh thyme
salt
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

Heat the olive oil in a large, flameproof casserole.  Add the onion, saffron, thyme, and a pinch of salt.  Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until the onion has softened.  Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

28 oz canned tomatoes, drained and chopped
3/4 c. dry white wine
salt and pepper

Add the tomatoes and pour in the wine and stock.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

12 red snapper fillets, cut into bite-size chunks
16 oz angler fish fillet, cut into bite-size chunks (note:  monkfish or another meaty fish may be substituted)
8 oz squid rings
2 T. shredded fresh basil leaves
Fresh bread!

Add the snapper and angler fish and let simmer for 3 minutes.  Add the clams, mussels, and squid rings and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until the shellfish have opened.  Discard any clams or mussels that remain shut.  Stir in the basil and serve immediately with plenty of fresh bread to mop up the delicious broth.

Happy Cooking! (This might even make a great painting before you devour it!)
All meals will be provided during our 6 day watercolor workshop in Cortona, Italy!  One evening, during our workshop, a local Cortona chef will teach us to cook our own Italian meal!  Bravissimo!!!
http://toscanaamericana.com/helenbeachamwatercolor.html

Isle of Palms Watercolor Workshop

Kind of unusual photos for the Isle of Palms...but this is what awaits us when we head over there in 2 weeks for my "watercolor on Yupo" workshop!  Ahhh, another mini-vacation!

Watercolor on Yupo Workshop

Just finished a 3-day watercolor workshop for my students at the Isle of Palms in sunny South Carolina!  In between painting our little hearts out, we enjoyed luxurious walks on the beach before and after class.  Here are some photos which show the work of one of my talented students!  She says it's not finished yet, so maybe I'll post the final masterpiece as soon as it's deemed done!  Enjoy!

Research Photo

Watercolor on Yupo (still in progress but nearly done!)