Classes At Laguna Gloria

The last few months have been a whirlwind of classes, homework, and more classes!

I was fortunate to receive a Capacity Building grant from the city, which I put toward three classes and three workshop at the beautiful Laguna Gloria art school. I studied Children’s Book Illustration, Intermediate Ceramics, and Landscape Painting, and am taking workshops on artwork documentation, writing, and grant writing. Whew!

And in addition to these formal classes, I’ve been attending the free professional development classes being offered at the Dougherty Arts Center and at Big Medium. If you’re an artist in Austin, you need to check these out!

I’m still getting my pottery back from the kiln and don’t have a ton of photos to share yet, but here’s a few I’ve taken during my time at the school:

Some of my tumblers drying on their way to the electric kiln.
Some of my tumblers drying on their way to the electric kiln.
One of the fun things about Laguna Gloria is that it is home to a muster of peacocks, who wander around the gardens (and love to be near the warm kilns on colder days).
One of the fun things about Laguna Gloria is that it is home to a muster of peacocks, who wander around the gardens (and love to be near the warm kilns on colder days).
It has been wonderful to be surrounded by artists of varying ages, backgrounds, and skill levels.
It has been wonderful to be surrounded by artists of varying ages, backgrounds, and skill levels.

I’ll have photos of my final pots when I get them all back sometime in the next two weeks.

For the Children’s Book Illustration class, I’m also lacking a quantity of images, but I learned so much in this class and am very much looking forward to spending more time with watercolor paint (a new medium for me).

A first attempt at drawing my main characters.
A first attempt at drawing my main characters.
Practicing with watercolor paints.
Practicing with watercolor paints.
My first completed watercolor painting! (Since first grade - ha!)
My first completed watercolor painting! (Since first grade – ha!)

The Landscape Painting class was a bit of a surprise for me. The description included “abstract painting” and I arrived expecting to push my work to a very flat, abstract place. Instead, I was pushed to paint in a more impressionist style! That means more-visible, looser brushstrokes, mixed colors, and an emphasis on light and shadow. It took me a few weeks to get loose and dive into this style which I’ve never used before. It was challenging, but very rewarding.

"West Texas Highway #2" - Acrylic Paint On Canvas - 12"x12"
“West Texas Highway #2″ – Acrylic Paint On Canvas – 12″x12”
"The Next Swimming Hole" - Acrylic On Canvas - 12"x12"
“The Next Swimming Hole” – Acrylic On Canvas – 12″x12″
"Gus Fruh" - Acrylic On Canvas - 12"x12"
“Gus Fruh” – Acrylic On Canvas – 12″x12″
"Along The Frio" - Acrylic On Canvas - 12"x16"
“Along The Frio” – Acrylic On Canvas – 12″x16″

Next up: the West Austin Studio Tour! Now that I’m done with my classes, I have time to prepare for the annual free art show that takes over Austin. I’ll be showing and selling my work (including my new ceramic tumblers) at the Blue Genie Big Top from 11am-6pm on May 11-12 & 18-19. Come check it out! There will be about 60 other artists in the same spot, and there’s a brewery at the end of the parking lot that serves some pretty tasty giant pretzels. Sounds like a good day to me!