This is a video of Lynn Ferris, my all time favorite Teacher!  I took classes from her for many years and give her much credit for getting me to where I am at today!  This is like saving a little piece of her forever!!!  Thank you, Lynn!!!!

I am just thrilled to be one of the newest "Signature Members" of the WV Watercolor Society!! 

To earn this designation, here is what one must do:  "Signature Members: Juried Members who have been granted the  privilege of using the West Virginia Watercolor Society initials (WVWS) in  conjunction with their signatures by the Membership Jury. To earn Signature  status, a candidate must have work accepted in two juried WVWS shows in a  six-year period, and submit four additional paintings images (other than slides  of paintings that have been juried into past WVWS exhibits), for review by the  Membership Status Jury.  Signature Status may also be granted to any watercolor  artist who is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the  National Watercolor Society, or whose work has been accepted in any AWS, NWS, or  Watercolor USA exhibit."

I have 3 main teachers to thank for this.  Anna Hogbin, who I studied with the longest and she went to great measures to help me grow, always giving me encouragement.  Lynn Ferris, with her degrees in art, former commercial artist, and member of National Watercolor Society taught me about using light and shadows to make a strong composition.  And Laurie Goldstein-Warren who finally got the concept of values thru my head and get me to the next level.  Thank you, Ladies, from the bottom of my heart!!

Here are the 4 paintings that I submitted.  The jurors liked "Caboose Camping - Durbin, WV VI the best.

This was fun moving paint around the kitty - some wet into wet, some partially wet, trying to get blossoms on purpose!  And I love negative painting for the leaves.  Here's one for you, Sheldon!  :-)

Another fun class with Lynn Ferris.  I'll miss this weeks as I'll be on a bus tour with WCMFA to the art museums in Philly!  Just two more left after that before she heads back to Florida.  I will certainly miss her and so grateful for all she has taught me and continues to do so! 

This was our latest lesson with Lynn Ferris.  I did okay until I gave him a black eye and let him play with his big sisters lipstick!  Portraits are way down the road for me, if ever.  The suggestion of a face/person works much better for me than to try to capture the essence of them let alone getting their features correct!  Was fun to do - and this has green, blue and pink under the "foundation".  Can't wait to see what this weeks lesson will be!

This from Lynn Ferris' class last week.  Object was to create texture in the barn.  I love texture!!  So many ways to get there and still so much to learn.  Working on this week's project and beginning to work on paintings for upcoming PRAG show which will be here before I know it!!  Happy Painting!!!

This was from Lynn Ferris' class earlier this summer.  This is the third time I've painted it - getting closer, but still struggling with hard edges for cast shadows and soft edges for the rest....and rolling the paper to get the depth and roundness.  I really like the picture and totally love the beach.  Odds are pretty good I will try this again until I totally think I've got it right!  But for now, I'm happy! 

This is for Laurie Humble's class on depth and realism.  I can almost guarantee she's going to say go darker and deeper....I always think I'm done and she thinks I'm far from it - and that's what makes me learn!!!  Excellent teacher - she teaches on-line thru Artists Network University and she also teaches at Cheap Joe's.  I highly recommend her!!!

This was another class of Lynn Ferris'.  I didn't let the shadows dry well enough before placing color on the pitcher....but I like the cherries!!!  Lynn is another fabulous teacher - she teaches here at the Mansion House during the summer (Hagerstown) and at The Villages (Orlando) in the winter.  She's also taught at Cheap Joes - and she's published in last year AND this year's Splash Book!  . 

Assgnment was to take photo and change it and add dramatic skies.  She gave us several color options to choose from and I chose to do them all for future reference.  What a fun project!!!

With the help of Lynn Ferris, I like this much better!!!  She said I had to do something to bring out the detail on the lace of the curtain and create more "darks" so the sewing machine wasn't such a "bull's eye"!  Thanks, Lynn!!!

This begins with sketching and masking to save whites.  Then on very wet paper, randomly paint red, blue and yellow.  When that dries, paint everything green that isn't part of the flower.  Begin drawing on layers of leaves and paint layers of green around them - severl times - each darker layer brings the next set of leaves back farther.  When complete, make remaining background dark with Red, Green and Blue!  Takes a long time, but I love the results!!!  Thank you, Lynn!!!

This was the first of many paintings from Lynn Ferris' class!  So glad to have her back in our neck of the woods and to continue to learn from this amazing Artist and Teacher!!!

It's officially summer!  Lynn Ferris' class started today - woot woot!  She is a fabulous teacher and quite an accomplished artist.  She's a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and the Florida Watercolor Society - she's won awards at many, many shows and teaches all over the country!  We're lucky to have her at the Mansion House in Hagerstown!