261105 Floral Fast and Loose with Lucy Thomas

In this class we will explore painting ideas and exercises that will encourage a fresh approach to painting flowers. We will talk about choices in composition and color and I will also give you some concrete actions that produce a fun loose style.

I will show you how to paint swiftly and not focus on the details. We will paint from our imaginations and also from a fresh flower arrangement I will supply. I will show you how I paint several flowers by themselves so we can put them together in a painted arrangement.

Supply List: I primarily work with Golden Fluid Acrylics. While I hope you can get a few of these to try, I encourage you to bring whatever acrylic paint you have. Heavy body will work but you may not get the same effect that I do. I will have all of these but the ones with the star * would be my first choices.

Golden Satin Glazing Liquid (my favorite ) or other all purpose liquid Medium

Golden Brand Fluid Acrylics:

• Dairylide Yellow

• Sap Green Hue *

• Pyrole Red or Cad Red Medium *

• Teal *

• Titanium White *

• Paynes Grey

• Hansa Yellow Opaque *

• Dioxianine Purple *

• Quinaquidone Magenta *

• Green Gold

• Phthalo Green (blue shade) *

• Yellow Ochre *

• Raw umber *

• Ultramarine Blue *

Paintbrushes

• Flats and brights: various sizes up to 2inches in width. Inexpensive multipacks of flat (flat edge) brushes made for acrylic paint are fine.

• Palette knives and paint shapers or whatever you want to try. I will bring mine.

• Other

Large Mixed Media Pad. I like to get an 18×24.

Canvas (or wood panels) in various shapes and sizes. Please include an 8×8, 10x 10 OR 12×12 square and a medium sized (11×16?) rectangular canvas. You are welcome to bring more canvas to work on if you like.

Spray Bottle with Water (to spray off mistakes while the paint is still wet.)

Palette or something to mix paint on (a sheet of plastic on a table works!)

Easel sized to fit chosen canvas

Instructor Biography: When I was 47 years old, while going through a horrible divorce, I was told I had Type 1 diabetes. My life changed pretty drastically after that and for some reason during that chaos, I started to paint. I think I knew I better get busy if I was going to do something with my life that was truly “me.” I’d always done creative things, but I had never painted. I found enormous relief and comfort while I was painting so I worked on it 12 hours a day. Sometimes more. As a single mom to one son, my schedule was determined by his needs but every moment I wasn’t with him, I was painting. I crammed 4 years of art school into 18 months of painting 12 hours a day in my garage.

Soon, people wanted to buy my work. I was stunned. Before long I was making a meager living as a painter and slowly I was able to transition into being a full time artist.

I attended college, all those many years ago, on a voice scholarship and ended up with a degree in Theatre Arts. For many years after college I supported myself in Birmingham, AL by singing professionally and occasionally doing a show or musical in town. It was in Birmingham that I first learned to arrange flowers. I worked as florist for many years and eventually owned my own shop. It is that long and intimate relationship I have with flowers that has made my floral painting successful. I understand flowers….how they fit in a vase, what their petals do, and which flowers are in season with other flowers. I understand their composition and am able to show that to the viewer of my paintings.

Now, my husband and I live in Columbia, TN with a house full of animals, including a tortoise named Steve. In his last semester of college, my son has just joined the Huntsville, AL Police Department.

Instructor Website: lucyisanartist.com