Regrouping from the seminar

Hello Friends,

For any of you that have ever been in a painting seminar before you will understand this....There is an unreal feeling that you have when you are in a seminar. I'm not quite sure how to describe it but it feels like the world stands still while you are learning your new information. It reminded me of the college "bubble". When I was in college my whole world revolved around the couple of acres that comprised my college campus. When I am at the Jansen's my entire world revolves around their painting studio. There is no swine flu, bad economy, stressful job, etc. There is only me, the class and my paint brush. While I learned about Palekh painting the world stopped. What a funny and unreal feeling.

Now I am back to reality and I have a chance to regroup and reflect. What did I learn in my journey? I am so thankful that I am a lifetime learner. I honestly feel that the quality of my life is improved by the fact that I love to learn and I am so grateful that I have opportunities to feed my need to learn. In addition, I am so thankful for new friendships. We spent so much time teasing each other but all jokes were made in humor. I teased my new Canadian friends about the way they talk and they teased me about everything else. To an outsider it might not seem like we even liked each other but we all know differently. We shared laughs, great food, great conversation and, most of all, great art.

Specifically I learned about Russian Folk painting. To my non painting friends that might sound really awful but it was absolutely fantastic. The depth of history and the maturity of styles in Russian folk painting is absolutely wonderful. There are four types of Russian folk painting, Fedskino, Kholu, Mstera and Palekh. We had the privilege of studying Palekh painting. Our particular study piece was designed by David Jansen, MDA and is based on the Russian Fairy Tale, Father Frost and the Maiden. Our class delved into the history of Palekh painting and we made many discoveries along the way. It was a wonderful seminar and one that I won't soon forget. Following is a link for some really great information on Russian folk painting. http://www.russianlacquerart.com/cnt/Palekh

Here are some great pictures of the last day of seminar.

In the following picture Dave Parmer and Jessica Jansen were trying to avoid the paparazzi. I failed in getting them to pose but I did get a picture of them. Dave Parmer and I share lots of taunts but he is a great friend and a very talented guy. His woodwork is beautiful. Jessica Jansen is truly wonderful. She is quite funny with a very subtle sense of humor but she is very smart, truly unique and a wonderful artists. They both are so much fun to be around. (Please no one tell Dave I said anything nice about him)

In this pic. Carol, Louisa and Jess are working on small detail work. Check out the magnifier that Jess is using. Now that is small details!

In the background of this picture is Linda, Bettyann and Abi. In the foreground is Ms. attitude, Georgia.

Finally we see David as he uses the big, upscale magnifier. He is also demonstrating some detail work.

Anyhow, the weekend was amazing, the friendship was amazing and I am so happy to be part of this thing we call decorative painting. As I expressed this weekend, we are so lucky to be part of something so timeless and we are also so fortunate to know that we could study this the rest of our lives and just begin to scratch the surface. I hope that you all have many wonderful painting moments in your future.

God Bless,

Paul