I'm so excited by all of the new works currently under creation or recently finished at TraillWorks. Many new students have enrolled, in addition to the loyal students I have. As my students know, my own education in the arts in very important, both to my own work and the quality of my teaching. In the past few months I've had the privilege to see two major art exhibitions: de Kooning at the MOMA and Van Gogh at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Both were truly impressive and inspiring and have already influenced my lessons. 

 

In March I taught a workshop at Teen Arts that utilized mid-century abstract-expressionist artist, Willem de Kooning's drawing process of reusing drawings and transferring them onto a new artwork. This workshop has evolved into a lesson many of my students are exploring now. Below is an example of one of the first completed pieces by student, Carly Griffiths. Carly started the piece by executing a drawing in charcoal of her dog, then transferred it to paper, overlapping it several times until satisfied with the composition. Finally she chose a limited color palette and painted in shapes using tempera to merge the figure and ground, abstracting the drawing. As she painted, Carly worked charcoal back into the drawing blending it over the paint in some cases and emphasizing lines. I think she successfully completed the piece; many more students are at different points in this project. Keep following us on Facebook to see more as they're finished.