Meeting and greeting nearly 50 ladies – Sweet Mondays at Colonial Baptist Church, Cary, NC

Registering for a drawing: five plants and an original painting!

Getting down to business – a brief introduction before painting begins.

Lots of questions and “splainin’” about what Created in soft pastel, oil & or acrylic – Scenes painted on location and in my studio from Georgia, Virginia & North Carolina Lots of questions and “splainin’” about what I am going to paint.

A little humor never hurts!

Showing what a finished first stage looks like.

Created in soft pastel, oil & or acrylic – Scenes painted on location and in my studio from Georgia, Virginia & North Carolina Showing one of a dozen references photos of Monet’s garden that I will use for this painting.

Describing my color palette for this painting.

Mixing the colors for and looking at only 45 minutes to finish the first stage – while talking at the same time!

Finally, the first strokes. Then it’s off to the races! This canvas is 24x36 in.

Drawing quickly in paint to indicate where the major shapes will be placed, leaving lots of room for changes.

Switching to another slide for reference.

Fortunately, I had a microphone so I could talk to the crowd while painting.

“Blocking-in” using large shapes rather than working on details.

Tick-tick-tick, the clock is running…

Answering questions from the group while applying a mass of green to indicate ground-covered areas.

Now we’re cookin’! Time is almost up for the foundation of this particular piece.

With a few suggestions of sunflowers, this session winds up after a brisk hour.

First stage completed after an hour of chatting/painting. Everyone wants to see the final finished work :)

“Monet’s Autumn”, completed in the studio “Monet’s Autumn”, completed in the studio. I never realized how dense and colorful mid-October could be!

Now drawing for prizes and a small original painting of Callaway Gardens, GA.

We have a winner – Faye Lindsay!

What fun!