Painting with the Masters 2011 - Day 1 recap

Well I am finally back from my exhausting but very informative week in Monterey, California. I attended the Painting With the Masters conference for the first time. American Artist has been putting this wonderful program together for three years but I hadn't had the chance to attend until now.

I took an afternoon flight from Philadelphia direct to San Francisco. The really nice man, Ted, who took my bags from me in Philadelphia PROMISED me he wouldn't lose my suitcase full of paints. And he didn't. He lost my suitcase full of CLOTHES. So after flying across the country, watching only one bag come off the carousel with a sinking feeling in my stomach as everyone else got their bags and left, and then going into the dreaded "lost luggage" room right next to the baggage claim area, I hopped on the 2 and a half hour shuttle from SFO to Monterey. Yes, I could have flown into Monterey from San Francisco but that would have involved me flying on a plane that is much smaller than my personal comfort zone allows for air travel. And the shuttle ride was the high point of the trip so far. The driver was chatty and funny and I got to drive through the Bay Area, where I grew up, and see all the changes to downtown San Jose from the passenger seat. It was a thoroughly enjoyable drive, he got there faster than I would have (we were going about 80 mph the whole way) and it only cost $45, thanks to American Artist getting special pricing for the convention, as opposed to a car service where the cheapest quote I got was $313.

So I got to the hotel at 11 at night. Doing the math that means in Philadelphia it's 2 AM and I usually go to sleep at 9:30 and am out like a light at 9:31. Needless to say I am really exhausted. I had already called the front desk at 8 PM, when I knew they lost my bag and asked them to grab me a large nightshirt out of the gift shop before they closed at 9 PM, and put it on my room tab, as well as a toothbrush from housekeeping (thank you to my husband, the world traveler, for that idea!) The front desk had my jammies waiting and I asked them to please not call my room when my bag got there. US Air told me my bag was on the next flight and would arrive at 9 PM and be out at my hotel a few hours after that, around midnight and I didn't want to be woken up right when I dozed off. So I went to my room and put on my new bright aqua pajamas with a big bear on the front holding a bottle of red wine and a loaf of sourdough bread, with a caption across the top that reads CABEARNET! See the photo above for a visual on that one. I fell asleep and the front desk was nice enough not to interrupt me until.........wait for it............4:45 AM, when the porter called me to tell me my bag had just been delivered. Arghhhhh! In my sleepy stupor I asked them to please hold it until 6 AM, when I would come down to get it. But then, I thought "what if it's the wrong bag ala Ben Stiller's predicament in "Meet the Parents" and I'm running around all week in these Cabearnet jammies with my black jeans underneath? I don't think so!!" So I called the porter back and asked him to please bring the bag upstairs. It was the right bag, thankfully, and I was ready to start my very busy day of classes.

The first lecture of the day was Dan McCaw. He gave a wonderful lecture and slide show. He told us a funny story about when he was starting out in Northern California as an artist and got jailed in the city, and then county jail, for having 91 parking tickets. He couldn't call his wife, because they didn't have a phone, so he called a friend with a phone, who alerted his wife, who got him out of jail. He then moved to Southern California and got a job as an illustrator. He was a very funny storyteller and it all sounded funnier out of his mouth.

He was also very inspirational and humble, talking about how he never taught anybody that wasn't as good an artist as he is. His big emphasis was "finding your own voice and developing creativity" as an artist. He stressed that a lot is taught in art technically but not so much emotionally, which is a huge component of art. We watched a slideshow that captured his evolution as an artist, going from slides of his older works, to slides of his newer works. He showed us slides of his sketchbooks that he carries with him, to jot down inspiration when it strikes him. Dan stressed that the sketchbooks are "a space for creativity free from judgement." Sketchbooks are a place to really let loose and get creative.

Dan had so many wonderful bits of advice. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from his class:

With regards to painting he said "frustration is like a rude friend, encouraging you to be better."

"They say don't use black. I say don't MIS-use black."

"Too much color is like fool's gold, it gets in the way."

"Underneath this painting is 30 bad paintings!"

"The more you fall on your face, the easier it is to get up."

The class lasted three hours and was fascinating. He went over value and design extensively and just too much good information to put in one short blog posting. So I'll wrap it up with a link to his site, http://mccawfineart.com and move on to Richard Schmid's lecture.

After lunch across from the hotel I ran back for my lunchtime lecture by Richard Schmid on Painting from Life. Richard was very funny, charming, and confident. He is a true living master painter. If you don't know who Richard Schmid is you are missing one of the great painters of our time. He is the founder of a group called the Putney Painters, who meet at his farmhouse in Vermont several times a year, to paint and learn and exchange ideas. Here is the link: http://www.villageartsofputney.com/Welcome.html One of my favorite quotes from him was " Nancy paints what she loves, I love what I paint." And he does love his own work. His words, not mine. He talked extensively about painting from life, even if you finish up in the studio. He went through a slide show of his beautiful paintings, with a few funny pitches for his books hidden in the background of the pictures. He gave wonderful explanations of his paintings and what he was thinking when he was painting them. It was pretty enlightening and I walked away thinking he was absolultely charming.

After that it was time for Peter Adams http://peteradamsartist.blogspot.com/ and his class "Painting the Pacific in Pastel." He gave a demonstration on a painting from start to finish in three hours. We took our seats outside, right next to the pier in Monterey, and waited in the glorious weather for Peter to start. Peter was the warmest most engaging teacher I had during the length of the conference. He started out the class getting to know everyone, as talking a little bit about the revitalization of the California Plein Air Painters that is taking place. His wife was with him. She is his manager, and she was lovely and engaging as well. We all liked him enough to pressure him into putting together an Alaskan cruise next year, with him teaching the painting! Peter went on to create a beautiful painting of the Pacific, and while it's a medium I don't work in, it was fascinating to watch.

I did not have time for dinner because there was a reception in the lobby that night for an hour before going to a panel discussion with six amazing Master painters on "Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder." The reception was lovely. There were light snacks and wine and beer for sale. I staggered to the auditorium and wish I had more to report on the discussion but I only made it through the first question and then went up to bed to sleep. I had a 5:30 AM class the next day, which was an outdoor demonstration on painting the Pacific, and I wanted to be able to get up for that! I heard later that the discussion got rather passionate and heated, and I was sorry to miss it.

So this concludes Day 1 of the conference. I tried to sum it up in as few words of possible, but honestly I could probably type 50 more pages and not have included everything about this experience! There will be future postings on the rest of my trip soon. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into Painting with the Masters Monterey 2011.