Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Janet Rogers Demo

I had the pleasure of playing chauffeur to Janet Rogers today. I picked her up at her hotel, took her to Sandy's class and we watched her do some roses in a demo for us before we had to leave and get to the airport. It was fun catching up a bit and watching her paint again (I have been in 2 of her workshops but it's been a while). She is a lovely lady and such a talented artist! She paints loose, free, easy - well, she makes it look easy! (She had just finished a 4-day workshop at Sandy Maudlin's Greentree Studios in Indiana and was catching a flight out this afternoon.)





Here are some photos from the demo (crooked because I'm taking them through the overhead mirror). First, the sketch on watercolor paper. Then she made about a dozen different "puddles" of pigment that were not as juicy and wet as she used to paint. And then she let the painting begin, looking for that perfect color for each shape (yes, she paints shapes).






































She paints on 140# paper and uses Loew-Cornell Golden Taklon brushes. Her paper is always slanted, taped on a board, and she lets the paint flow, dipping in different colors and changing them if they don't suit her. She also splashes and splatters to get the energy build-up out of her when she's tightening up so don't stand too close! If you haven't taken a workshop from her, you should - if you want to paint freely and loosely and have fun learning.



She finished this painting for now (it had to dry and be packed for the trip home), and then did a small single rose...I'll share that later!

So where will she be next? Well, she and her husband, Steve Rogers, will be doing a workshop in the Keys later this month, but they travel all over the country and Italy to do workshops all year long. Check out more of Janet's work, both floral and portraits/figures, on her website at: http://www.watercolorsbyrogers.com

5 comments:

http://www.onpainting.wordpress.com said...

Very pretty. Certain effects can only be done in watercolor.

Vicki Greene said...

What fun. Wish I were there.

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

That is just a gorgeous painting, so light and loose. I hope to take a workshop from her some day.

As lovely as the painting was, I have to tell you my eyes kept going to that bracelet she was wearing! How cool was that! When I get better at this wire wrap stuff I want to make something like that, it was just so elegantly simple.

Margaret Ann said...

Really wonderful and light...mine would have all turned to mud! Yikes!! :)

RH Carpenter said...

She is wonderful and such a lovely lady as well as a good artist. You wouldn't regret taking a workshop from her, especially if you get to go somewhere nice like the Keys!
Susan, Sandy M. will be having her return again (she had a waiting list this time), so I'll let you know when that happens - you could always come and stay with me!
Margaret Ann, she drops in so many different colors while the paint is still wet and juicy (that's the trick) that it amazes me she doesn't get mud but as long as the paint is still moving and blending, it stays clean and clear. I mean, she will put in a bright green and say, no, too green; then she'll take a pink or red to tone it down and drop that in - again, I think just dropping the color in is a key, too = no brushing to get them to blend but letting the one color influence the other on their own.