Lately, I have been teaching private painting lessons (besides my group classes)
and it has been so nice to slow down and focus on one student!

So, last night I took an online painting class myself as a treat, an artist's date!
The painting below is in process and still on the easel but 3/4 of the way done.
What a treat it is for a teaching artist to take a class.  
I do not have time to take a class in person since I am teaching a lot of art and painting classes.  So, the online version is great because I can stop the class and go back when I next have time.  
I needed to loosen up with portraits again (haven't painted one in awhile) and have fun with values, color and of course start with an exciting composition.
The online class was taught by Emma Petitt at www.artistmagic.online

We used photographs of portraits that included hands!  Lots of videos to work from. She is a very good teacher.  She chooses photos as resource and let me tell you,
it is simply for composition and lighting as we change all the features to make the portrait our own.  
My painting looks nothing like Emma's and that was part of the beauty of the class!
​I used my own style but learned some fun techniques.  More to come! 

​We had another lovely Art Journaling workshop last Saturday sponsored by the Atlantic Center for the Arts. I am thinking about several choices for intentions we discussed for working in our Art Journal.

​Here are three Intentions 

1. Working on a specific goal/idea to express on the page in images
​and/or words. For example, to honor a loved one or express an
emotion through your work.


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2.  Working intuitively.  By choosing colors, images, words that speak to you in the moment gives the ability for the page to reveal its meaning
as we find why we are attracted to certain images, phrases, mantras, words to help tell our stories.
In essence, working intuitively begins with play. Playing with mark making, colors, images that speak to you.

How do you set up intentions for your Art Journaling pages?

Next Art Journaling workshop is Second Saturday in November!
 ​https://atlanticcenterforthearts.org/event-or-exhibition/expressive-art-journaling-november-9-2019/
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​You will have a choice to work in one of two methods. Both methods will use traditional painting techniques leading into dynamic brush strokes and light effects 3/4 of the way through.
1. Work from a dynamic abstract background guiding choices of what flora and fauna imagery you will add to composition.
​2.Work from a photo or drawing composition
To find out more, visit http://crealde.org/classes/flora-fauna-capturing-the-essence-of-movement-in-nature/?class_type

Here she is,
My sweet Sadie in our 
field of flowers, our meadow, are happy place this time of year.  
The flowers will be leaving soon, like a dear friend that you don't want to leave town! 
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For those of you creatives who have not sketched from life before, there is nothing like drawing for observation.  This little watercolor drawing was done in my field of flowers.  Just a sketch for me, a sketch to update my skills so I don't get rusty.

Don't have the time?  You really do!  If you have five to ten minutes or 30 minutes to watch a show, you have a little time to sketch a plant, flower, or tree to update your art skills.  
I recommend beginning with sketching organic shapes as they do not have to be perfect!
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Felix the Cat follows us around like
a dog! Yes he is quite a character! And puts up with the young rambunctious 
Sadie the Lab. 

I hold SECOND SATURDAY Art Journaling 
workshops in New Smyrna Beach in June, August, and September.
If you would like to come learn how to play
in an art journal, the class is free to the public as it is sponsored by the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Click below to register. 
 ​https://atlanticcenterforthearts.org/store/expressive-art-journaling-june-8-2019/
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Every Spring our front yard Magnolia's bloom and their fragrant smell lures me to the front yard to observe, reflect and paint them! 
Magnolia Grandiflora 
acrylic painting
30 x 40 inches
painted gallery wrapped edges ready to hang.
Email Laura for to inquire about purchasing.
30 day money back guarantee!  

This month I am featuring two artists who have been creating through Art and Wellness workshops for a year or more. Both artists have come to a level of understanding on how to express their own story both visually and narratively. Thanks to these two artists for giving me permission to share their Mixed Media artwork.   Pam Crawford Palmer and Laura Rocco recently created these works with collage, paint, pens, and other media choice on boards. 
Scroll down to read narratives that accompanies their work. 
TREE AS HUMAN EXPERIENCE
​ Art and Wellness workshop sponsored by the Atlantic Center for the Arts. 

FEATURED ARTIST: Pam Crawford Palmer 

Trees as a Human Experience
Thoughts on my mixed media piece from a recent Laura Bohn workshop
- Pam Crawford March 2019
Peaceful and connected with a sense of movement – a setting sun
reflecting a heart shaped configuration of branches. Palm trees
in the background – an explorer or harvester climbing a palm –
green leaves reaching up with roots reaching down into a starry
night – a tree under a full moon, people gathering together, bare
branches reaching to connect with the roots of the blooming green
tree through the starry night sky – words about journeys – yours
and mine – independent yet intertwined.
Feelings of community – friends – hope – love – adventure –
peace and being connected.
Sunrise and sunset colors – what do you represent?
Roots and branches, do you show how we are all connected yet
separate in our endeavors and needs?
Are we gathering in support and celebration?
I think so!
All of this is my intent
Thank you, art, for showing what my soul feels.
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For this work, Laura Rocco chose a Haiku by Candy Polgar.
“Alone with myself
The tress bend to caress me
The shade hugs my heart”

Join me, Laura Bohn, at the beautiful Atlantic Center for the Arts

Come enjoy this visual and narrative mixed media art process workshop using your printed or found tree images, words, collage elements, and memorabilia. Based on either memories of trees, symbols, metaphors, or how you relate to trees in the environment through time. This workshop will include a brief session of forest bathing (shinrinyoku).
this Workshop is over.
Contact Laura to schedule a workshop. 

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