My Perigord Art Retreat
Posted on September 29, 2023
Did that just happen or was it a dream?
Every single day on our retreat at Perigord, I asked myself several times, “how did I get to be so incredibly lucky?” From the moment we were greeted by our charming host, Harrison, at the train station in Gourdon until he dropped us at the same station 10 days later, it was pure wonder!
We arose each day and headed out to the most spectacular adventures in neighboring villages. I assigned a fun creative scavenger hunt for our daily jaunts. We looked for inspiration for varieties of line, shape, color, texture and pattern to be incorporated into the art we made during our studio time together. After filling our creative buckets to the brim every morning, we enjoyed the most delicious picnics. A beautiful lunch magically unfolded of homemade quiche, unique salads, bread… and of course… wine… served on the side of a lovely river or park.
Afterwards, we headed back and got to play in the studio. My teaching style is to share prompts and exercises that allow the personalities and interests of each individual to come through in the works. I LOVE when the unique style of each person shows in what is created during my retreats!! There was a range of art making experience in our group, which I really like. We had a newly retired woman who was an accountant and had never really made art. We also had women who have been in product development for years, but looking to try new techniques and ideas. It was a wonderful group!! We laughed a ton, we danced to Aretha and we became life long friends while creating amazing art!
And let me tell you about the food!!! Oh my! Every evening, Katel and Paola, lovingly served up incredibly fresh and savory meals. We all ate together while sharing stories and laughing ALOT! The last night, after our champagne toast and studio exhibition, we were served a decadent 7 course meal with a different wine for each course. We toasted to our enchanting hosts, to one another and to this glorious retreat. What a perfect way to end what was a heavenly experience that I will NEVER FORGET!
Colori Abstract Challenge: week 4
Posted on September 25, 2023
When creating your abstract piece this week… you can take inspiration from…
The color palette: Pistachio, Pea, Warm Pink, Elephant Grey
The featured shape: plus sign
The featured artist: Françoise Gaime Gilot (26 November 1921 – 6 June 2023) was a French painter. Gilot was an accomplished artist, notably in watercolors and ceramics, and a bestselling memoirist of the controversial Life with Picasso.
Gilot’s artwork is showcased in more than a dozen leading museums including the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In 2021 her painting Paloma à la Guitare, a 1965 portrait of her daughter, sold for $1.3 million at Sotheby’s in London.
Gilot first made her mark in the post-War milieu of artists who redefined the European artistic landscape; her career then went on to span an impressive eight decades. Delving into the realms of mythology, symbolism, and the power of memory, Gilot’s work explores complex philosophical ideas with spontaneity and freedom.
Gilot is also known for her romantic partnership with Pablo Picasso as well as marriage to Jonas Salk, the American researcher who developed the first safe polio vaccine.
In an interview questioning how she came to be with two of the most influential men in the world, Gilot responded, “Lions mate with lions.”
Colori Abstract Challenge: Week 2
Posted on September 11, 2023
When creating your abstract piece this week… you can take inspiration from…
The color palette: mustard, signal red, maroon, denim blue
The featured shape: square
The featured artist: Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (13 June 1908 – 6 March 1992) was a Portuguese abstract painter. She was considered a leading member of the European abstract expressionism movement known as Art Informel. Her works feature complex interiors and city views using lines that explore space and perspective. She also worked in tapestry and stained glass.
Where I’m teaching in 2024
Posted on September 8, 2023
September Instagram Challenge
Posted on September 5, 2023
I am once again co-hosting a challenge with Esté MacLeod this month inspired by Women Abstract Artists. Esté had curated four color palettes, each paired with a shape prompt and inspired by four amazing female painters. Each palette/prompt will be shared on the 5th, 11th, 18th and 25th of this month.
Be inspired with us, explore and share your outcomes at #coloriabstract and #coloricombo
I’m excited to dive in!
Our first featured artist is:
Lenore “Lee” Krasner (born Lena Krassner; October 27, 1908 – June 19, 1984) was an American abstract expressionist painter, with a strong speciality in collage. She was married to Jackson Pollock. Although there was much cross-pollination between their two styles, the relationship somewhat overshadowed her contribution for some time. Krasner’s training, influenced by George Bridgman and Hans Hofmann, was the more formalized, especially in the depiction of human anatomy, and this enriched Pollock’s more intuitive and unstructured output.
Krasner is now seen as a key transitional figure within abstraction, who connected early-20th-century art with the new ideas of postwar America, and her work fetches high prices at auction. She is also one of the few female artists to have had a retrospective show at the Museum of Modern Art.
The first palette is below. The shape to feature in your first piece is … the circle.
Lori Siebert & Co. 