RED BARN :: 8x10" pastel

©2014 Kim Morin Weineck
RED BARN
original pastel, 8x10"
$175 unframed +$10 shipping

I've visited this particular subject before and so I enjoyed pushing the color and revisiting it in numerous tries each time making new color experiments. So proud of the blues in the shadows, particularly on the left side. This piece is on archival pastel board and looks more vibrant in person -- if possible!!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

My VT painting workshop :: Aug 4th-7th, 2013

Paintings from a Vermont Farm                    
An artists’ workshop & retreat with Kim Morin Weineck

Good paintings often spring from the inspiration provided by a location.  Surrounded by mountains, fields, ripening crops, rivers, and farm life – your paintings of Amee Farm in Pittsfield, VT will be truly inspired! 

Photo courtesy Sweet Georgia P's at Amee Farm

Dates :  Sunday, August 4^th- Wednesday, August 7^th
Please arrive any time after 3:30pm on Sunday to settle into your room and get acquainted with the landscape. A welcome dinner will be provided with participant introductions at the gathering.

Schedule :  Each day begins with breakfast, followed by a painting lesson with handouts and a demonstration by the instructor. Locations for the day’s painting will be determined before breaking for lunch, which each participant is responsible for daily. On-location painting continues after the lunch break with individual instruction throughout the remainder of the day. All mediums and painting levels are welcome.

The group will convene for lively critiques of the day’s work before dinner.

Tuesday night is an extra-special Farm-to-Table dinner comprised of freshly harvested selections from Sweet Georgia P’s at Amee Farm: a perfect send-off meal together. What a treat this will be! We'll be painting from the landscape, creating still lifes of veggies and flowers from Sweet Georgia P's at Amee Farm, and then enjoying a fantastic gourmet meal that couldn't be fresher! This is the French idea of terroir at its best -- just for us!

If the weather cooperates, those interested can paint the sunrise and enjoy a brown bag picnic breakfast. Wednesday’s lesson and final painting session concludes with our last critique over a catered lunch. The workshop ends at 1:30pm on Wednesday, August 7^th. 

Photo by Katina Bentley

Lodging: Workshop participants are housed at the rustic luxury bed and breakfast, Amee Farm Lodge, just across from Sweet Georgia P’s at Amee Farm. The inn is reserved for the group solely, providing a wonderful opportunity to be immersed in the art experience alone and in collaboration with others.  Take a  look at their site for pictures of their rooms and be sure to check out their blog for some amazing photos of the landscape.

Photo courtesy of the Amee Farm Lodge website and blog

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*The inn offers many different rooms, some with private bath and some a semi-private bath (shared between two rooms). Rooms are granted on a first-come first-served basis. When you pay, you reserve your room choice, so reserve early!

Pricing:  $ 850 includes 3 night’s lodging and breakfast daily. A welcome dinner is provided on Sunday as well as a private Farm-to-table dinner event on Tuesday and lunch on departure day. Participants receive three days of in-depth art instruction with painting demonstrations.  Not a painter? You are welcome to join us, too. Retreat only, no instruction is $695.

To sign up or for more information, email kimweineck@gmail.com or call 508-596-0830. Thanks! 

The artist/instructor: Kim Morin Weineck is an accomplished artist who has been teaching all mediums of painting and drawing for more than a decade. Kim concentrates on the beauty of interpretive landscapes in her own work. She is a juried member of the Pastel Society of America (PSA), Signature Member of the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod (PPSCC), among other art society memberships. Founder and Instructor of the Neponset Valley Artists (NVA), Kim holds a BFA in Fine Art, 2D from Massachusetts College of Art and Design where she graduated with distinction and found her artist-voice studying in Pont-Aven, Brittany, France. Kim has served as Gallery Director at Gallery9, Norwood, MA.

Continuing Education :: My 2nd Workshop with Deb Quinn-Munson

The Foxboro Art Association hosted a workshop with Deb Quinn-Munson Saturday, April 6, 2013 at Studio East, Walpole. 

Deb Quinn-Munson begins with an oil underpainting on
Wallis (or UART -- can't remember which) paper

Having attended last year's workshop, I was excited that Deb was invited back to lead a class focusing specifically on techniques for painting water.

Deb had great information to share about water like this quote by Don Demers: " Study the water until you understand what it looks like, then paint how it feels." It's fun to think about things like that.

Deb develops her watercolor underpainting
This was a new thing for me. I had no idea you could use watercolor
paper for a pastel painting. The heavy paper  grabs the pastel well,
even without a sanded ground. Learn something new every day!

Deb also discussed her "80/20 Guide" with us, asking us to consider this 80/20 ratio when making decisions regarding composition, shape, value, color, line, texture, and rhythm.

We have so much to think of when making good paintings. Often this is done intuitively, but Deb's insight encourages artists to slow down and consider the options for deliberate choices -- a smart thing to do, and one I certainly don't do enough.

The painting with the introduction of pastel shows lovely sparkle.

A few things Deb said have that continue to sit in my head:

*What will make someone walk across a room to see the painting? Of course you should choose the options that would do that!

*Think about elements in your painting playing specific roles. What is the lead? What is supporting the lead? Have these firmly decided and make marks/decisions that assist the roles.

Pastel painting by Deb Quinn-Munson -- what shimmer! 

As important as composition is, Deb mentioned that composition doesn't get credit for its role in good paintings. No one really says, "Wow! What composition in that painting!" The glory usually goes to color.

Workshop in full swing with everyone painting!

She encouraged us to be deliberate with our marks and to make bold, decisive paintings:
"You only get to hit it once -- maybe twice. That's it."

Here's the start to my painting. I was trying to be
deliberate and ended up a bit tortured at this stage. 

Right now my painting is leaning on my dining room chair rail so I can take it in at odd times of the day. I want to sit with it a bit more. When I'm content with it, I'll post it here on this blog.

Deb Quinn-Munson and I at the end of a great day

The day ended all too soon with creative juices flowing! Perhaps Deb will be invited yet again to instruct another aspect of pastel painting. I know I'd be signing up for it.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Push yourself

 As an art instructor, I often say the same things over and over. Describing color and detail and abstraction while teaching a workshop, I explained ways one may loosen up and explore relationships in art.  It seemed appropriate that I taught by example and so I made these few studies.

©2013 Kim Morin Weineck
STUDY No. 3, 4x3"

Pick a reference at random. Collect all the colors you think are needed to render your study. In pastel this is such fun - selecting your color notes and laying them near each other to see how they relate. Test yourself to use only the colors you initially select. Test yourself more by putting a limit on the amount you can choose ;)

©2013 Kim Morin Weineck
STUDY No. 5,  3X4"

Goodness me, they were such fun! And while they're 'abstracted' they aren't abstract. You know it was a sunset sky, a cottage lane, and a beach and treeline inspiring these works.

©2013 Kim Morin Weineck
STUDY No. 7, 3x3"

And all of this came from this more serious piece on gessoed gatorboard. I'll get back into it, but during the workshop, it was too fussy for me. It was the piece that spurred me to the first one in this post - which I have to say I like MUCH better than this.

©2013 Kim Morin Weineck
PASTEL STUDY 8X10"

The start of a sunset in pastel on kraft-paper gatorboard with a pastel ground

For me it's going to be about finding a balance. When I posted the album of these studies on my Facebook page I was so SEIZED UP and went to delete the album on numerous occasions. (In fact, I still may do that.)

All of my studies. I love how they look together!

Good things will come from this practice. Color relationships are trued up. Composition skills are increased. I can guess that my class will be exploring this idea as well in a near future class!