From Memory

“From Memory”         Pastel            9” x 12”           $100            © Sharon Lewis
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           I’m back from a wonderful conference in Albuquerque (the International Association of Pastel Societies Conference). I took a great class with Jeanne Rosier Smith, one with Mike Beeman, and a terrific workshop with Tony Allain. I learned how to paint more beautiful waves from Jeanne, more expressive still lifes from Mike, and more striking and dramatic landscapes from Tony.

            In Tony’s workshop, he challenged us to paint a landscape from memory, something that formerly would have totally terrified me since I had a hard enough time painting from reference photos. Fortunately, I had painted a few landscapes recently and had a vague memory of one of them though I was painting so quickly that the final product wasn’t very interesting. When I got back, I made some changes in the composition to remind me more of the beautiful, striking sky I saw one day while traveling in Scotland.