An extra bonus of doing art shows

                                           Callaway Azaleas
                                           Watercolor Painting by Pat Fiorello


I rarely do art shows. I'm not talking about exhibitions, gallery shows or juried art shows. I mean the selling art in a tent type of show.  I did my first and last outdoor art show about 10 years ago. It was fun in some ways, but was a big time commitment, huge of amount of work setting up and taking down the show and anxiety( for months beforehand) worrying about the weather possibly raining down on my paintings.

 I have, however, done one art show for the past 4 years -The Wesleyan Artists Market in Norcross Georgia. It's a show of about 75 artists- paintings, jewelry, pottery etc..  and a portion of the proceeds benefits the school's art program. The show is indoors ( yea!) , well run and usually pretty well attended. But beyond the opportunity to meet prospective collectors and sell art, there's a benefit I forget about till I get there.

 One of the best things about doing the show is meeting the other artists. Having gone back several years in a row, you get to see some of the same people year after year and share ideas, information,  tips and are just happy to see a familiar face of a fellow artist. There is a camaraderie among artists that is very special. And that's the hidden bonus of shows.

Here I am with my friend and wonderful fellow artist Margaret Berthold at my booth at the show at last night's opening event.  I look forward to seeing her at the show each year. We don't live very close to each other, so this show is one of the few times during year I get to see her, have fun and spend the whole weekend together.

The show runs today 9-7 and Saturday 10-4 at the Wesleyan School campus in Norcross, GA.

 For more information see:

http://www.wesleyanschool.org/parents/ArtsAlliance/ArtistMarket/Pages/default.aspx                                                             

It's never too late....to learn

                                                            "Winter Whites"
                                                   Watercolor Painting by Pat Fiorello

Yesterday was the first session of the spring semester class I teach,  Painting Flowers in Watercolor: Loose, Fresh & Easy.  The class was full with 15 students, 13 returning students and 2 new ones. One of the new students who I did not know, Jerome,  left me a message the night before that he was having some problems at home and might miss the class waiting for a repairman to show up.

Well about 15 minutes after class starts, I see the school security guard at the door. He opened the door to assist Jerome, who wheeled in on his walker , orchids and art supplies in hand. I soon learned that Jerome was 90 years old.  He had painted before, but had been sick for the past 5 years and didn't paint at all. He said" I've never been able to paint flowers. I can paint portraits, landscapes, but never flowers, so I came to learn". I was totally blown away, truly inspired and honored tot be teaching him. He had the enthusiasm and energy of a  young boy as he took on the exercises we did in class and painted his orchids.

I really thought about what it took for him to overcome the circumstances he was dealing with and show up to learn. It would have been easy to stay home and do nothing.  But here was clearly a person with a passion for learning, a love of art, a commitment to act and pursue what he wanted instead of just thinking about it.
 Jerome you are my hero.

Is there something you've always wanted to learn?  What are you waiting for??? It's not too late to start.

Art, Life & Inspiration- My TV interview is now on line

Pat Fiorello( left) and Sonja Vass( Right) at sbn show taping

Exciting news! I shared last week that I had been interviewed by Sonja Vass of sbn.tv for her  television show "The Art Corner". The 30 minute segment aired on tv last week and is now available to view on line at:


http://www.sbn.tv/archives/category/programming/the-art-corner

Just click the start arrow on the episode April 19, Pat Fiorello.

During the interview I share how I got into art, and we covered lots of topics including painting, life, learning, travel, inspiration and following your dreams. The message in the show is consistent with my intention for this blog which is that Art Elevates Life.  Art truly has enriched my life and I believe it can enrich everyone's life  whether you are an artist,  aspiring artist or anyone who is open to a deeper appreciation of the beauty around us.

If you have a chance to view the show, let me now what you think and please share it with others who might be inspired to include more art in their live and follow their passions.


The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
- Eleanor Roosevelt  

Impressionism- Painting Color & Light continued

Here's another example of  the transformation of a painting using the method I have been studying with Susan Sarback. From stage 1- the initial block in of warm (sunlit) and cool(shadow) masses. Then refining the colors by adding a bit of the opposite temperature( but still retaining the dominance of the initial block in temperature) and adding bands of color within each mass and then final refinements. Like any new approach it takes a bit of getting used to- but I do like the way it sets things up to read that they are in sunlight or shadow in the final painting.This one was done the other morning plein air on a street in downtown Charleston SC.

Painting Color & Light - Day 1

 In my last post,  I shared about my experience at the Susan Sarback workshop on color and light. The approach is in the spirit of the impressionist study of the effects of light and atmospheric conditions on color and what we see. Here are some photo's from my first day trying out this approach-it's radically different than anything I've ever done- and I painted only with a knife- no brushes.It's a 4 step process, starting with bright colors for large shapes in either shadow( cool) or light(warm), then refining to mute colors down,  adding the effect of light on color and then touching up final details and edges. Here are some of the stages from start to final study( sorry about the sun glare on the photo) . Done on location in Charleston SC Monday afternoon. It was fun and I'm learning a lot . More to come.
                                      

Painting Color & Light

This week, I've been studying painting light in the impressionist style with Susan Sarback, author of Capturing Radiant Color and Light and founder of the School of Light and Color                          (www.lightandcolor.com).


Her approach is very different from anything I've ever done with oil paints, but it is surprisingly natural and yields results that are very atmospheric. She has adapted the impressionistic approach that she learned from Henry Hensche and made it more user friendly. She is an excellent instructor and clearly explains what she is doing and why during her demo's. She advocates a 4 step process, which really works. In the first stage, you establish color temperature ( light vs shadow) and value. This stage looks awkward, but is a necessary underpainting to eventually get realistic atmosphere. It is so bright it's hard to look at, but it is quickly dulled down in stage 2.

Here's a look at the steps from the underpainting to the final painting in this 4 stage process. These are examples that Susan painted to show the evolution of a painting and shared with the class. They are also in her book.

 Quite a transformation, don't you agree? More to come on this approach later this week...