Selected Artist: The Fields Project!

Selection from one of my illustrated journals

I have just learned that I have been selected as a participating artist in "The Fields Project" June 19 - 27. Located in the scenic Rock River hill country near Oregon, Illinois, The Fields Project is a week-long event that "focuses public attention on art, agriculture and our natural resources while creating new relationships between artists, farmers, environmentalists and educators." I'll be staying with a farm family and painting all over the area. At the end of the project I'll be showing what I have done in a Fine Arts & Crafts Festival that brings participating and local artists and the community together for a day of celebration. For a city girl like me who has never spent time in a farming community, this promises to be a great experience. Cows, horses, tractors, corn, grass and wonderful, friendly Mid-westerners -- what fun!

Selection from one of my illustrated journals

Winter out West; Spring down South

"December Evening," acrylic gouache on panel, 18 x 24

One more painting of winter on the Colorado Great Plains before SPRING bursts out here in the Deep South, and I just have to paint it! This is from photos I took while we were in Colorado in December. I like the bold composition of this; it expresses some of the big, free, open feeling I get when I'm out there.

Meanwhile, spring is upon us here in the Deep South. We got a good taste of it last weekend when we spent a couple lazy days at the beach on Cape San Blas, Florida. Here's a quick sketch done on the dock at the Old Saltworks Cabins where we often stay:

This is a view of the bay; the ocean is behind me, across the road that runs the length of Cape San Blas. Here's a sketch from a few years ago:

It's an amazing beach -- startlingly white, clean sand and very few people any time of year! We like going in March when the sun is warm, the air chill, and it's comfortable to walk beach any time of day.

Upcoming journaling workshops!

Sample page from Marilynn's illustrated journal at Lake Superior

I was delighted to learn that my illustrated journaling workshops are filling up. My workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina is full, with a waiting list, but there are still a few places available in the workshop at The Alabama Folk School. Here's the scoop:

April 5-8: THE ILLUSTRATED DISCOVERY JOURNAL

The Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell, Nauvoo, AL, 205-387-1806

For the traveler, landscape painter, gardener--anyone who wants to record what they see and experience in a personal watercolor journal. You'll learn 6 skills: simplify your subjects, render them quickly in pencil, enhance your drawings with ink, add color with watercolor washes, design your sketchbook pages, and incorporate words into each page's design. We will work from real life and your photographs. Activities will include demonstrations, in-class exercises, and outdoor excursions circumstances permitting. Basic drawing skills are recommended for this class; however, even students who have very little drawing experience can create very charming journals.

I'm offering a weekend version of this workshop at the Spruill Center for the Arts in Atlanta May 8 & 9, and a 3-day at the Bascom Art Center in North Carolina June 10-12. Details are on my 2010 Workshop Schedule.