Nobody appreciates a home-made gift like our moms do! This week, in celebration of Mother's Day, we created small watercolor paintings for our moms. Regardless of culture, it seemed we could all unanimously agree that moms love flowers, and so we painted colorful renditions of lotuses and wildflowers for the occasion. Thanks for painting and looking forward to the next source of inspiration!
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It was a pleasure to meet and paint with new guests to the Saigon Art Retreats watercolor workshop this weekend. Each person had their own reason for visiting, but all were motivated by a desire to increase their skills and knowledge of drawing and painting. No matter where you are starting from, it is always a great investment of time, money and courage when it comes to the pursuit of developing one's skills. Thanks for attending and thanks for allowing me to be a part of your weekend....see pics of our paintings and afternoon session below. With the very hot season among us, we've moved to an indoor location just down the street form our original terrace studio. This was our first workshop at Cashflow Cafe, and the flow of a/c and tra dat (ice tea) was most welcome as we learned about silk on watercolor painting. The technique requires patience with water and the fabric's natural tendency to absorb it. In this busy city, it's nice to just slow down and take the time to appreciate such small things. The results were some beautiful first attempts at a traditional artform. This week, I was reminded of the beauty of encouragement..... a force that has the power to change our conceptions of ourselves and our achievements. Our workshop welcomed all new guests to the Saigon Art Retreats, and to the wonderful methods of color mixing too. Small words of encouragement and technique yielded in stunning watercolor paintings that reminded all of us - anything is possible with the right attitude. Thanks for painting this weekend, and hope to see you again soon! A solid drawing is often the key to a great painting. This week, we took some time to understand how drawing anything can be easy, if you know how and where to start. With a solid drawing, you can feel more confident to try new colors and painting techniques, like this workshop participant did with her background. Below, you can see a very challenging photograph - a cake made of many layers which allowed the artist to understand the drawing principles of perspectives and ellipses. Once the foundation of a great drawing is made, adding color is easy! It's a beautiful time in Ho Chi Minh City - the streets are filled with flower trees and fruits for those making preparations for the Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations. This week's workshop focused on the wonderful food, flora and decorations that make this holiday such a beautiful one. Some folks made cards for friends, other made paintings for their homes, but we all had a good time and learned a little bit more about the watercolor medium. Thanks again and happy new year! This week's workshop was attended by all new participants - mostly beginners to the watercolor medium, but the adventurous and creative spirit led them to try something new on a Saturday afternoon. Some people learned about the art of painting on silk, and others concentrated on the foundations of drawing and watercolor techniques. It's not easy to start from the beginning when learning something new, but the patient and persistent attitude of this week's workshop attendants was exactly the thing you need to do so! I really enjoyed being inspired by all of these people, and sharing in the new lessons learned about a medium that I have worked with for many years. No matter how long you have been doing something, its important to remember that new beginnings always lead to lessons learned. Thanks to you all and I hope that you enjoyed your afternoon. Our first watercolor workshop of the new year was spent with a family that knows there is more than one way to appreciate the art of a culture -- instead of spending time in a museum, why not spend time creating art? Using watercolor on silk painting techniques, our visiting family from Sweden and Shanghai explored their creativity while being inspired by the native VN plants and flowers on the terrace of Saigon Art Retreats. It was a lovely and relaxing experience, and a great way to bring in the the new year. Thanks to you! Our last painting month of 2013, and we had two new painters come and join us in drawing this year to a close. Some beautiful paintings made on rice paper, and more contemporary paper - each with a distinct composition based on the interest of the painter. We had a nice time painting, talking and learning. This is our second year of workshops at Saigon Art Retreats, and a big thank you to the many people that attended throughout the year. We had over 60 people attend this year, and with more workshops scheduled next year, we hope to make it to 100 in 2014! Have a creative and happy holiday season and see you in the new year! |
AuthorWritten by Lindsay, creator of Saigon Art Retreats Archives
March 2016
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