Degas at the Foundation Beyeler

Edgar Degas in der Fondation Beyeler. Kurator Martin Schwander zum Konzept der Ausstellung.

Denver at The Madden! Ken Elliot and Casey Klahn Will Teach On Color!

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July 20 and 21, at The Madden Museum in Denver Metro.  All media welcome.  Contact either Ken or myself.

Carriera, Copley, Chardin, Oh My!

Young Lady of the Le Blond Family

13.4"  x 10.6"

Rosalba Carriera [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

This looks good. For those interested in pastel's historical development.

Pastel Portraits: Images of 18th-Century Europe
May 17, 2011–August 14, 2011

Brightly hued, highly finished, and relatively large in scale, pastels in the 18th century were regarded as a type of painting and displayed like oils. The powdery, vibrant crayons are particularly suited to capturing the skin tones and evanescent expressions...

Wonderful Washington Workshop

Loriann Signori's Painting-a-Day

I can tell that the Richard McKinley workshop just concluded in Mt. Vernon, WA was a success by the results that show in Loriann Signori's work. Her recent works are still very much Loriann's signature style, but they are her work at its best - great clarity, superb color and authentic. Her heart is in it, and she's creating lovely pastels that you should take a look at. These are my favorites: The Field 1 & 2.

If you've ever taken an art workshop of any type, let alone one of the length and intensity of McKinley's La Conner one, you know how it can turn you inside-out with the issues of self-direction versus a strong and influential teacher's style. You are there to adopt and apply the teacher's ideas, and yet you have your own statement to continue. I have lost sleep over these things!

My interview of Signori is here: Plein Air On Purpose.

She suggests that Washington State is an inspirational locale. I agree, of course! Skagit County, where McKinley's workshop takes place, is the art rich home of the Northwest School (Tobey, Callahan, et al.) and is noted for the strange diffuse light that permeates the marine air. Some day you really ought to make the trip to see for yourself.

Richard McKinley
La Conner Art Workshops
Loriann Signori's Painting-a-Day
Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA)