Recently, I started meeting up with a good friend of mine at roughly the same time and place every week to work on our art together. The idea—no matter what we worked on, no matter how big or small, tame or wildly experimental—was to simply create something. I liken it to having a gym buddy. Sometimes you might feel like skipping out, but there’s someone waiting for you, expecting you to show up. So you do. And through that accountability and sheer consistency, you find yourself trying new things, going down new artistic avenues and having more fun than ever. It’s wonderful because I get to see what she’s working on, which sparks new ideas in me and encourages me to take on things I hadn’t considered. All the while, we’re sipping coffee, chatting and laughing together.
I think this sense of consistent structure, whether strict or more loose in nature, is part of what makes art workshops such a great way for artists to improve at a rapid pace. The freedom of working entirely on your own steam and your own schedule is great, and for those of you who have that strength of conviction—I’m thoroughly impressed. But often, it’s tremendously helpful to have some sort of regimen; a cohort of like-minded individuals with a shared goal. I often talk about the importance of support and community in the arts, and I’ll do it again, because I truly believe in it. This issue features our second annual Art Schools & Workshops Guide, which starts on page 48. In this section, you’ll find a variety of in-person and flexible online workshops focusing on drawing, painting, international travel and more.
On page 32 is a feature on the immensely talented Stephanie Paige Thomson’s new project Broadcasting Brushers. I highly recommend you take a look at this one as well. Thomson understands the value of painting from life and spent years developing this fully online program, which gets as close as possible to working with a live model through your computer screen. The twice-monthly livestream is also structured to facilitate active engagement between all of the artists participating in the program.
Once you’re done planning your summer art retreats, landscape artist Bill Farnsworth kicks off our demonstrations starting on page 58, followed by oil painters Justin Wood and Susan Abbott, acrylic artist Julie Rhodes, watercolorist Eugenia Gorbacheva, mixed media painter Kevin Lowery and pastelist Silja Salmistu.
Warmly,
Alyssa M. Tidwell
Editor
atidwell@internationalartist.com