About twenty years ago, long before I retired, and after my children were old enough not to play in my paints, I once again picked up brushes and resumed what I had tried to do after college graduation. I determined to try to find a teacher, which was difficult where I was living at the time. I soon learned that just because a person could paint, it did not mean they could teach what they knew to someone else. After several bouts of lessons with people who absolutely had no idea to teach, I decided it might be best to just grab some books and dig it out for myself. I spent a number of years just struggling with paints, papers, techniques and composition. About that time, I retired and we started spending the winters in Yuma, Arizona, at the Cocopah RV and Golf Resort. After arriving at Cocopah that first winter, I went straight to the Activity Center at the park and asked if there was a watercolor class there, thinking of course, maybe there was a teacher I could learn from. The response I got was, "No, but would you like to?!?!" Since my whole career was about teaching, and particularly teaching people who were disabled, I thought, "Why not? I can give this a try!!" And eleven years and lots of successful classes later, I've got more students than I can handle, some of whom have produced winners in shows and have become excellent watercolorists in their own right!
Now, I need to give recognition to several nationally and internationally known artists who have been my teachers and mentors: Sterling Edwards, Judy Greenberg and Lian Qahn Zhen. Lian in particular has had the most influence on my work and has given me the tools to win two Best of Shows this past season. Here are three paintings done in his workshops both in Missoula and in Yuma in the past year and a half.
The next two paintings are ones that won Best of Show this year. The first is " On My Morning Stroll" a favorite subject of mine, the beautiful cactus that grace Arizona's lovely April landscape,
And finally, "Palm Canyon Trailhead," Best of Show in the Fine Arts Exhibit of Yuma's Annual Fair.
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