Sure, Y'all Betcha

Well, I'm up in Taylors Falls, Minnesota writing you from the Coffee Talk coffee shop. I'm up here for a painting workshop by Marc R. Hanson (www.marchansonart.com).  I loved following his Painting Marathon (marchanson.blogspot.com) last month, and his work is just fantastic. The workshop is three days, this being the first.  I really like Marc's sensibilities about paintings and I've learned a lot from him already. This part of Minnesota is on the border with Wisconsin. I'm actually staying the night at the Interstate Park on the Wisconsin side. The weather was great today and the towns I've seen (Taylors Falls and St. Croix) are very quaint and scenic. A good spot for a plein air painter, and I would recommend it for anyone wanting to explore the Minnesota/Wisconsin area. I've already had several good meals, and I haven't even had walleye yet. Today Marc had us do three black and white painting exercises. Each specified a composition with 3/4 on value and 1/4 another value. On the one hand, it was easy not having to worry about color. On the other, it brought it's own challenges of simplification of values and massing for the key effect. However, the latter is always present in any painting, so honing in on that gave me several "ah ha!" moments. All three of mine were of the carriage house in his backyard. Which, by the way, has to be one of the best back yards for someone who hosts workshops. I then went to dinner with a bunch of the other artists, drank Moose Drool and talked all about art. From one of them, I learned about rosemaling from rosemaler Jan Norsetter (rosemaler.org). So:  Great Weather. Learing. Painting. Beer. Art Talk. Camping. Am I having a good time? Sure, you betcha.