Photos from November 2017 Workshop: Still Life Painting with the Palette Knife
This past November I had a wonderful group of students who took my workshop, Still Life Painting with the Palette Knife at River Gallery School in Brattleboro, VT.
In this 2-Day Workshop we worked small so as to really take notice of the subtle painterly effects available to us using the palette knife- and have fun experimenting. Some of my favorite paintings by this group were their experimental warmup-up paintings where students were simply working with a limited color palette and playing with a variety of techniques. This could be in part because students allowed themselves to play without judgment, experiment without criticism and take pleasure in simply pushing paint around and admiring it's effects.
On a personal note, as I expressed and shared on my Instagram Post about this workshop, during this 2-day period, unbeknownst to my students, I was dealing with a stressful situation that is too long and arduous to share. But the point I want to make is that before my workshop started, I was very conscious of the feelings of angst and stress that I was experiencing inside of me, despite how much I tried to shake it. And then I realized, by the end of the workshop on Day one, I felt completely free stress- like my spirit was lifted. This experience once again reminded me, how much joy teaching brings me, particularly when I am working with students who are eager to learn, and allow themselves to take risks and feel vulnerable in the process of art-making. It's such a beautiful thing- and I am so grateful to be in a position to teach and to receive the amazing positive energy that my students share through their learning.
In this 2-Day Workshop we worked small so as to really take notice of the subtle painterly effects available to us using the palette knife- and have fun experimenting. Some of my favorite paintings by this group were their experimental warmup-up paintings where students were simply working with a limited color palette and playing with a variety of techniques. This could be in part because students allowed themselves to play without judgment, experiment without criticism and take pleasure in simply pushing paint around and admiring it's effects.
On a personal note, as I expressed and shared on my Instagram Post about this workshop, during this 2-day period, unbeknownst to my students, I was dealing with a stressful situation that is too long and arduous to share. But the point I want to make is that before my workshop started, I was very conscious of the feelings of angst and stress that I was experiencing inside of me, despite how much I tried to shake it. And then I realized, by the end of the workshop on Day one, I felt completely free stress- like my spirit was lifted. This experience once again reminded me, how much joy teaching brings me, particularly when I am working with students who are eager to learn, and allow themselves to take risks and feel vulnerable in the process of art-making. It's such a beautiful thing- and I am so grateful to be in a position to teach and to receive the amazing positive energy that my students share through their learning.
Here are some photos from the workshop:
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| Demo Painting for workshop |
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| "Warm-up" Paintings by Laurie Tigan (This workshop was her first time EVER painting!!!) |
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| Paintings in progress by Basha Freudenberg |
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| Painting in progress by Basha Freudenberg |
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| Still Life Painting by Marnie Smith |
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| Small Paintings by Laura Bliss If you are interested in taking a workshop with me or learning more about upcoming and past painting workshops, sign up to my newsletter here: https://shop.cameronschmitz.com/newsletter-sign-up |
One of my passions is finding beauty in the everyday mundane, and this often includes helping students to recognize their own little achievements and painterly moments in their work, which, when being judgemental of our own work, we easily overlook.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me directly.
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