plein air with Terry Miura

So, Friday, Saturday and Sunday(11,12,13th) I spent with the fabulous painter Terry Miura (pronounced Meera) and nine(if I counted right) other students. He is an excellent teacher-explaining why he is doing what he is doing-whether it is mixing a new pile of paint, scraping off a drawing when the angle of the building wasn't quite right etc. However, like all great painters he had one big fault-he made it look EASY ! Watching him and listening to him, I understand what he is saying, I hear what he is saying, I watch him execute what he is saying, and then I go paint and although his words resonate in my head-my eyes and hand do not cooperate...............
I needed more paint, to apply the paint , not push the paint-lay it on delicately -you don't want to disturb the color underneath or you get mud-(enough to build a wall with bricks in my case-hah) .
And we saw beautiful slides of his paintings, got to see actual small paintings-he gets so MUCH information on a 9"x12". and if you go on his web site (www.terrymiura.com) you can see he not only is an accomplished landscape painter, but he also paints beautiful cityscapes and wonderful figures. No wonder he has students that study with him for many years.
The weather was fairly cold and mostly overcast, but no rain only a few spits. We painted at the Fransiscan Center the first day, at a nearby farm the second-very kind hostess-even made us cookies!-and at a bed and breakfast along the river on Sunday. The Fransiscan Center was having a work weekend so they made their workers cinnamon rolls and there were extras for us to have also.  And their first apples were ripe so they generously allowed us to sample them too. Folks, this was not the place to start a new diet ! During your time at the center-if you take a class there- Kathy Bechtal, the art director, also provides coffee, water and chocolate chip cookies......What torture to be diabetic !
We had an international group-three from West Michigan , one from OH, one from WI, two from CAN, Terry and a gal from CA (and she was born in Russia) and I think Terry said he was born in Japan.And another gentleman I didn't hear where he was from, and another man from IL.
I wasn't tired the three days, but Monday I was exhausted. I am slowly recovering .
Some things worked well, others didn't-they're for the next blog. Glad I could paint close to my car.Got a great book Terry wrote with his tips that he gives to his workshop students.

Look at values, compare values on your canvas and more.It's all highlighted, now to get it so it reverberates in my head while I paint. Lots of concentration required, You must apply your paint purposefully and mix it right.Close, is not good enough.. I got my copy signed.here he is doing a demo on Sunday and the pic he was kind enough to take with me.
Thank you Terry for teaching such a good workshop !
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