Last Saturday I had the priviledge of attending an all day oil painting class.  The class was hosted by Dee Day, director of the PACT team at Hill County Bible Church.  Once again, she demonstrated her love of art and her love for people.  When we arrived,  there were tasty breakfast snacks waiting, along with hot coffee and other beverages.  She also served us a delicious lunch that afternoon! What a treat!  Though I am still new to this group, she always makes me feel welcome. 

The instructor for the day was accomplished impressionist painter, Virginia Vaughan.  If you love oil paintings of the outdoors, especially landscapes, visit her blog.  One of her recent art projects involved painting every single day for a whole year, which also happened to be her last year on her family’s farm.  It’s really a wonderful project. You can see these paintings on her website.

I marveled during both demonstrations as she adroitly mixed and brushed colors onto canvas.  In a few seconds, she had a wonderful study of the landscape surrounding the property.

Here are some pics I took as she painted a big pot of geraniums on the porch.  It was so impressive to watch! (no pun intended)  🙂

This style of painting is completely new to me.  It is a far cry from my first experience with oil painting a few years ago.  I’m very attracted to the the impressionist’s style,  given the quickness of the actual painting itself.  I found that  I have an extremely difficult time ignoring detail and just painting shapes and values.  It’s going to take a lot of practice.  Here’s my feeble attempt-

Yep, it stinks, but I learned a lot. 

One exciting thing that happened in the afternoon was a suggestion by Dee for our group to form a “plein air” painting club and get together and paint outdoors somewhere once a month! Awesome! 

Our first “paint out” was yesterday and we painted the full moon rising.  It was really fun and I learn more each time I try it.

Before I gathered up my things at the end of the class, I couldn’t help but notice how pretty everyone’s palettes were. 

I loved the way the light was shining on the little gobs of paint and how pretty the mixed colors looked side by side.  I’ll post those pics next so stay tuned…

Thanks Dee for hosting, and thanks Virginia for an awesome class!