Painting Nature First Hand

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Event Summary

September 3, 4 & 5, 2013
9:00 am to 3:00 pm each day

This workshop will lay a foundation for making sense of the visual landscape both with indoor nature journaling exercises and outdoor "plein air" experiences. Plein air means painting in the outdoors.  It will be a class aimed at beginners, with lecture and demonstration time devoted to basic watercolor techniques, materials and time for practice.  Participants will paint several studies and complete a finished painting.  Matting and framing how-to will also be discussed.  Watercolor paints and palette, brush, watercolor paper and miscellaneous supplies will be included in the kit provided.  A suggested supply list will be available prior to the workshop and additional supplies may be purchased from the instructor.

Instructor:  Pam Cates
Never one to go the usual route, Pam Cates has had a varied education and art background. She has worked in the commercial/graphic arts area; as a medical photographer & audio-visual resources manager; as a naturalist & tour guide; an art educator: and a professional artist. Her educational background includes commercial art school, an art degree from The University of Nebraska at Omaha, regional workshops, and just plain life experience. Pam has taught art workshops and classes, and continues to paint weekly with a local plein air group. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her artwork.  

“My struggles with art have been many over my lifetime, but I never seem to struggle with what to paint. Looking about me, in this Iowa landscape, are never ending variations of landforms touched by ever changing seasonal light. God makes hundreds of beautiful moments every day, each a painting waiting to be captured. So I go outside and there I paint the Loess Hills and Missouri River Valley lying at my doorstep. I paint what I see before me, but every painting takes into account all of my life’s experience too. I may ‘see’ a hillside as gold and burnt sienna, but I also ‘know’ this same hill is covered in Little Bluestem and Sideoats Gramma. It seems to me that this synthesis between the naturalist and artist gives my work an authenticity of someone who loves this land and has spent some time out in it.”

As much as she loves to paint the landscape, she is also drawn to the still life. “I am very much an old-fashioned homebody. I find comfort and familiarity in canning jars, sewing tools, and other objects of the self-reliant housewife of yesteryear.” These she renders in thoughtful detail, concentrating on light and texture. “I still feel like I’m looking for my niche, but having a hard time settling down to one genre. In nature, mono cultures are so much less healthy than diversity. Perhaps that is why I find myself constantly drawn to so many different subjects, to keep a healthy diversity in my art.” Other subjects of great interest and inspiration are her garden, home, antiques, and travel. Pam also paints murals and will do artwork on commission.

www.pamcates.com

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Cost

Adults - $150.00

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Category

Special Events

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