Art On The Edge

Testimonial

When my wife, Cindy, showed me an ad on Instagram for Carole Finn’s Art on the Edge workshop in Ucluelet, I thought it would be a nice way to spend a week. It’s not always easy to set aside dedicated time to paint, snatching, as I often do, an hour or two here or there from my schedule. The price of the four day workshop, I thought, was reasonable, and, as a bonus, Cindy and I get to spend a relaxing week on the spectacular west coast of Vancouver Island—good restaurants, sweeping beaches, and mossy forests.

Prior to this workshop, I was not familiar with Carole Finn’s art. After googling several of her images, I was looking forward to a week where I could polish up some of my painting skills, and, hopefully take home some decent pointers from a skilled and experienced artist. What I found at Art on the Edge was so much more. The first thing that impressed me, before I even E _some of my work. As a teacher myself, I understand the value in getting to know my students ahead of time. Carole also sent participants some very helpful videos she made in preparation for our week. Especially useful to me was her video on preparing canvases for oil and acrylic.

After the twisty drive across the island and a restful night in a nearby B & B, I arrived at the workshop, located in Ucluelet Community Centre. The space was bright, well-lit, and a short walk from inspiring seascapes. From the start, Carole has the teaching style of a seasoned professional. She had a clear plan for the week, but was able to respond quickly to the needs of the class, at the level of the class. One of Carole’s stated teaching strategies was to not spend time on lengthy demonstrations, but to allow the students to jump right in and get to work, which we all did, eagerly. This being said, Carole generously shared her wealth of information on the nuts and bolts of being an artist, from the basics of mixing colours, and composing effective images, to business of art, like how to construct a lightweight, inexpensive shipping container for artwork, using foam core panels.

One of Carole’s koans, was “What’s the story in your painting?” This one caught me a little off guard. As a person who switches between abstract, and landscape painting, I usually think in terms of line, colour and composition. The idea of a story had never crossed my mind. But, through the process of daily group critiques, a story started to buildaround my painting. The story is the thing that keeps you focused, and gives clarity to the work. It’s the human perceptive element of the painting—the part that draws you in, and makes you want to stay there.

One thing a good teacher is able to do, is to lend confidence in areas that you, as a student, are already doing. I watched Carole move from student to student, building their confidence as she went. “You already know how to do this, just keep going.” But meeting students needs is not only about making them feel good. Carole is not afraid to give a frank opinion when it is justified. On a follow-up Zoom critique (two weeks after the workshop, and she is still helping us—did I mention she is generous with her time?), the students were ohh-ing and ahh-ing over some work, and she stopped us, “No, no. There are all kinds of problems here” And she carefully went over the painting’s composition, opening it up for the students to discuss, solve.

I can’t finish this article without giving a shout-out to my fellow students. Each person in the class was kind, thoughtful, and mutually supportive. I can’t wait until October, when we get together for our group exhibition. (Dates and location TBA). The best way I can summarize the week is with the message I sent Carole a few days after the event was over: "I just wanted to send a quick email to say thanks for a great week. It was such a lovely group of people. You really created a kind and supportive atmosphere in the class. I look forward to our paths crossing again.

Thomas Kero

ABOUT THE LEARNING

Learning is individual based on your level of expertise with the basic skills of painting. We will be dealing with composition, Value(light and dark). colour, soft edges , hard edges , foreground , middleground , background. atmosphere , emotion BUT most of all identifying what your story is about for your painting (focal point) and how all these other elements are the tools to tell that story. In our daily critiques we will be telling everyone how we used these basis tools to make sure the viewer knows what your story is. I will show you how to use Photoshop to make your painting decisions easier.