Focus on your strengths and book a nice hotel

"Focus on what you are doing well".

This sentence sums up the way I felt during and after my last workshop.
It is very easy to immerse yourself in art and landscape painting when you take a workshop with Marla Baggetta.

Marla telling us to be brave

Though some unexpected happened, like me driving from and to Mt. Vernon every day (I live an hour and 15min from there) because the hotel I booked was well... lets say I didn't feel like I was going to be safe staying there ha! The weekend unfolded in lots of small paintings produced and lots of money spent on materials at the Dakota Art Store - taking a class right at the back of the store can really get dangerous when it comes to $$$ in art materials.

Marla is so good at making you feel welcome. She reads to us from different book references to help us fight that fear we have when in front of an empty canvas.

Marla demoing

It was amazing to see how we got to painting right away after her demos. We were all motivated and ready to start putting pastel down the surfaces. Even the slowest painters moved fast. You could feel the energy in the room. Everybody heads down trying to loosen up and not being afraid of color. Everyone encouraging one another.

Some of my small paintings

The message was clear: concentrate on what's coming out well instead of what's not so good on that painting. Take that and put it in another painting. Make it even better! I never thought about it that way because in the art world we are used to constructive criticism and normally overlook making note of what we are doing really well.

Sharon showed up every day even though she had to roll on that

I met many awesome ladies too. Big part of why I like workshops. You get connected with people that love what you love. You don't have to explain yourself much really. Which is different from everyday activities, jobs, etc.

And I was lucky to be able to purchase the demo painting. I am going to get those trees one day!