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The Jack Warner Art Instutite, a division of the Warner Museum, offers classes for all levels

by Maureen Shotts on 12/7/2009 7:04:40 AM
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I am very excited to announce that I will be teaching a six week course for beginning through intermediate oil painters, Problem Solving in Oil Painting. The course will focus on how to design a powerful still life, and will take students from concept to signature.
This course will be offered through The Jack Warner Art Institute, a joint venture of Jack and Susan Warner and the Westervelt-Warner Museum of American Art, which houses one of the finest private collections of American art in the world.
If you are in the Tuscaloosa area and interested in art classes, the institute will feature classes taught by accomplished artists, Dan Rountree, watercolor;  John Kelley, pastel;  Caleb O'Connor, portrait; Ruth O'Connor, drawing, and I will be teaching oil. Please contact Kathie at www.warnermuseum.org for more information and to experience this wonderful opportunity!

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If at first you don't succeed..............

by Maureen Shotts on 6/28/2009 2:42:22 PM
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This was the catalogue piece for my Atlanta show, "Bloom" and did not sell. I recently retrieved it from a local gallery and made changes that had been nagging at me for quite a while. I am so happy that it did not sell.. now it is a much stronger painting and I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to make the improvements!
I will have to say that I have been bothered by parts of this painting for a very long time, but still, I thought it strong enough for the Atlanta show.. you know, it looks good to others, but that little feeling that it could be improved kept haunting me. 
Hard to know what to do when a piece is so close but if changes are made, there is the scary thought that pretty good can go south and become"oh, my goodness"! BUT, sometimes you get what you were hoping for!!
Take chances with your work. Almost good (whatever that means) is never the best you can produce!
Happy Sunday......
EPILOGUE:
Today is Friday, July 10.. "Scarlet Blossoms, Revisited" just SOLD! It does pay to revisit a work that has not sold and make it better~

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I really do believe in the Painting Fairy!

by Maureen C. Shotts on 5/2/2009 11:31:55 AM
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A Painting a Day ~ Yesterday..
STUCK, STUCK, STUCK...
It is so easy to get STUCK! Stuck with a composition that is not working.. stuck in the same approach, stuck in nonproductive activities (my husband refers to this as 'sharpening pencils'.. like he used to do in med school when he was avoiding studying for exams).
What to do, oh what to do???? When I get really stuck, I BEG my paint fairy to come forth. I literally do call out to her and ask for help. And, like a nurturing mother or best friend, she is always, always there.
First thing she does is make me change music.. if I have on show tunes, she suggests country or light classical.. whatever works for what I am painting. Mostly, she helps me get out of my head! 
Now, I am not saying that I begin to create masterpieces at that point! Wish it were that simple!! I just become peaceful and lose myself in the paint. And... sometimes... sometimes.. I am stunned at the end of the day at what naturally came through my brushes.
For some time I have been thinking about putting my thoughts into a blog, of sorts (do you think I am sharpening pencils??). So many painters have similar problems and joyful experiences, and we all love to read about one another's trials and achievements. So, here I am with my first entry, giving away my deep dark secret ~ my painting fairy!
And.. for those wonderful patrons who have purchased my work and follow my website for new work, I hope it makes my painting process more meaningful, not just a signature on a painting you have hanging in your home, or those that you have seen in one of my galleries. I hope these musings will give insight into what painting means to me.. how I think.. what I am trying to express. Above all else in my work, I want to inspire and give pleasure through my paintings.
Today is May 2, 2009. I will try to write at least once a week, and hope you will visit often, . Please forgive any grammatical errors. I am mostly concerned with expressing thoughts and experiences.
WELCOME to my world! Please write me.. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Maureen

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