Acrylic Painting Class for beginners produces outstanding results...

                               



Thank you so much to editor  Imogen Crispe of the  Rotorua Weekender  for her page three article about my classes and to photographer Steven Parker  for his great photographs.
The story had people streaming in to sign up.

Here are a few of the shots  of the acrylic painting class work that I managed to capture.
Each of the beginners paintings were started and completed in under two hours using Resene Testpots.
Is that art at the speed of light or what?

  All people produced some really great work, it's hard to believe that most of them had never picked up a brush before.



Lesson 1
 Abstract Expressionism, concentrating on colour mixing, masking tape application,  creating a smooth under painting and brush handling skills.   Incorporating an element of surprise because you don't know what you are going to get at the end.
Using Jackson Pollack's  action paintings as visual examples.

                                       

Lesson 2:
Silhouette Paintings using a graphic design brush technique and taking notice of negative and positive space on a flat plain. Using NZ Artist Richard Killeen as a model.

Lesson 3:
Dry Brushing or Scumbling.
Collage materials such as sand, paper, button, coins, leaves, lace etc onto canvas.
Laying down foundation colours and dry brushing different colours on top.

 Lesson 4

Value Painting, trying to include 10 tones from white though to black in one composition, first producing a black to white value scale.

Optional Homework: creating the same painting in colour.

 

                                                                                      

                                                                              

Lesson 5.
Portraits Drawing  from a photo of yourself or  a picture out of a book or magazine. Draw and paint the image  upside down.  Use special recipes for skin tones.

                        
Lesson 6 Landscape.
Design  elements that  help to make a landscape look more 3D aerial perspective, overlapping, colour and scale. Bring a landscape photo from home or use one out of a magazine or book and adapt.

                                  

                                                                                 

                                                                            
                                 



             

                                              
Happy beginner painters, a pleasure to have in the class, top marks everyone.

                                                                        
                                                          

 
                                                  

                                                                                 

                          


Pupils Feedback from the course
"You are a ray of sunshine, I haven't met many teachers like you.
You made me feel positive about my artwork," Lois.

"The class has been inspirational and has helped me to get a feel for acrylic paint. 
I am intending to carry on painting, thank you so much." 
Melanie


 I really got a lot out of the course, it was really good, I am hoping to find time to do some more in the future."
Glenn


Advanced Pupils work.
 I have four pupils who have been with me for a number of years, completing Parts One Two and Three and beyond.
 We are working towards a series of themed works and exhibiting a selection them near the end of the year.  Three of them entered artworks in Rotorua Artists in 2010.
 It is rewarding to see pupils advance in confidence and skill to exhibit in public places.
It is great to also have pupils who recommend my  watercolour, acrylic and mosaic classes to their friend, co-workers and family.
 I always appreciate referrals and returning customers..

                                                                           

                                                                                       

                                             

  Feedback from advanced pupils
  "Year after year I  keep coming back because the people are so nice and the classes are such fun."  
Heather.

"I dabbled at home but when I joined Janet Keen's art classess it was like an explosion  of creativity and so fufilling and fun too...highly reccommended to find your inner artist!"

Charlotte

Creativity Quote of the Day                                                    
There are no limits to what I would do to make my classes exciting, interesting, unpredictable.
Philip Zimbardo

Term two Classes are enrolling now from my home studio.
Places are limited to 8 people
We will be working thematically and you have the option of contributing to regular group exhibitions.



Any questions ring me Janet  on 346 3435.



Or text me at 0273513887 or email jkeen@clear.net.nz

I am happy to answer your queries.



                            

What did I do creatively yesterday? I went on an Audio Visual course with the Tauranga Photographic Society

I went  to a workshop run by Trish and Alistair McAuslan from the Tauranga Photographic Society on creating Audio Visuals.

                                                          It was a fantastic workshop.
                                                         

                                   Well paced and easy to understand.                                     


I learned a lot of valuable information that is really going to help me make a better five minute Audio Visual clip. 
The quality of the presentation, examples of AV's and notes were excellent



The Tauranga members were very friendy, helpful and free with information.
I was  grateful to the organisers in Tauranga  for opening this opportunity up to members of other clubs. Hopefully I will meet up with more of them in the future.
                                                                               

                                                                                    

Every member bought along their own laptops, it was great being in a room full of people with so much technology.

I was so inspired that when I arrived home I started working on my AV about a group of  children's weekend photographic adventures.

When I have it ready ( after many weeks of tweaking) I will try to put it on this blog, which will probably be another learning curve.

Twelve  top things I learned about making a good AV.

1. ProShow Gold is the preferred software for your  PC; you can download a  free trial; it's really easy to use if you follow the wizard instructions.
2. As a beginner it is tempting to smother your AV with every transition and effect available but don't do this as it's very distracting to the viewer and judges, especially if you are entering competitions.
4. Landscape format works best for most shots.
5. When you are thinking of making an AV to enter into competitions  develop a story,sketch outr a rough storyboard and go out with the express purpose of taking a number of shots especially for it. Don't just couch together a set of snaps from your archives and hope that it will hold together.
6. Take the best photos you can and take lots of them.
7. Make sure the music is relevant and adds to the story and  isn't too loud or clashing.
8. If there are a lot of landscapes one after another in your AV of the same location avoid  bouncing horizons
9. Once you have made your AV view it every morning for a couple of weeks to a month and tweak it.
10. Seek out the advice of a few trusted and experienced  people  (a PSNZ member who has entered AV competitions before, would be ideal), who will give you honest feedback about where it is becoming boring or disjointed. It's very hard to be objective about your own work.
 11. View other examples of good or award winning AV's online here is an excellent link                                http://duckrabbit.info/
11.Most importantly have fun and enjoy the process.
                                  

                          

Great examples of award winning AV's and AV's that had deliberate faults in them courtesy of Alistair.

                                                  

 John and Janice Phillipson gave a very informative and easy to understand demonstration of how to use Proshow Gold. 

Creative Quotes of the Day 
“I take photographs with love, so I try to make them art objects. But I make them for myself first and foremost - that is important.” Jacques-Henri Lartigue 


“To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Elliott Erwitt

Rotorua Artist Janet Keen at Home

What's good about living in Rotorua?

It's only three hours drive away from our biggest city Auckland. (Joke).

But seriously...

It's a wonderful place for viewing birdlife, especially around Sulphur Point which is on the  edge of  Lake Rotorua.

                                                   The people are very friendly

There's plenty of  green open spaces with monarch butterflies

                                                                          

                                               This is the view from my lounge window
                                                                             

    If you want to go camping, beaches with good spots are only an  hour or two away.

Lots of people are interested in  my painting and mosaic classes.

In a smaller city like Rotorua, people have the time to be creative.

They are also really great to teach because they have positive energy.  

The greatest thing about it is my best friend is here with me.

No matter where your home is; (even if it is in Auckland), you can always find things that are really good about it. 

Every day above ground is a good and creative day.

Let's celebrate. 

Creativity Quotes of the Day

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action.

Mother Teresa


There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.
Jane Austen



Where thou art, that is home.
Emily Dickinson

Why don't you send me some comments about where you live that are positive? I'd love to hear from you.












                                                         

                                                                                  

Mosaic Paver Making Workshops, enrolling now for 2012 , give me a call today...

Weekend  Mosaic Workshops,
Native New Zealand Bird Paver Making .

Tui, Morepork, Fantail, Pengiun, Wood Pigeon, Kakapo, Kiwi

$200 per person including all materials.
Minimum number required: seven people.
 Get your group together and give me a call to arrange a date. 
You just walk in and walk out and leave the cleaning up to me.

It's fun, it's exciting and it's so good for you to be creative in such an easy way.

What people have said about  my mosaic courses..... 

"Janet is a very patient teacher, she has a lot of mosaic samples in her garden and studio and these are fun and inspirational.
I am looking forward to completing some projects at home now I have the confidence."  Sandy


"I loved doing my mosaic  paver making course with Janet. The only trouble is it wasn't long enough. I would like a week long course next time. Mosaicing  is addictive." Fiona

"My family loved my Fantail mosaic. Janet had all the patterns, cutters and tiles ready to go so it made it fast and easy."  Mary

You too could be a happy person  receiving positive  comments from your friends and family about your mosaic masterpieces.

Call me today to discuss  your mosaic making ideas. I am happy to arrange taylor made classes for groups of 6 or more. Smaller groups, prices on application.


I have had ten years experience, so there is very little I don't know about the process.

Phone 07 346 34535 to enquire about a class today.

Creative Quote of the Day
We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.


Jimmy Carter


Check out my website for examples of more mosaic work.  http://www.jkeen.net/

Milliande Art Journal pages 21, 22, 23 As promised. Only number 24 to go and I'm done...

                                 Let's mix and mingle with positive souls...


                                                   Creativity Quote of the Moment 
  In real life I avoid all parties altogether, but on paper I can mingle with the best of them.
Anne Tyler

                                    Let's breathe in fresh, country air

This prompt by Milliande was supposed to be about the day in the life of me. I live opposite a farm of course there are no Zebra's but a person is allowed to dream aren't they?

                                                   Creativity Quote of the Moment
When I go out into the countryside and see the sun and the green and everything flowering, I say to myself Yes indeed, all that belongs to me! - Henri Rousseau

   Find your soul family, win a haven of your own and breathe easier                       
                                                                            

A dream can be tricky to arrrange, creating the heart of a new life.                                      

            Let's encourage each other to write and read poetry...

 Favourite creative quotes about poetry

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.
Robert Frost


A poet looks at the world the way a man looks at a woman.
Wallace Stevens



Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry.
Muriel Rukeyser