Somewhere around 2013 or so, I gave up teaching my painting style and technique to groups. For years I’d taught classes of up to 8 or 9 students at a time in my home. But a class I had early that year really didn’t provide me with any energy or enthusiasm and that’s when I realized I didn’t need to invest my time in that process any longer.
Recently though, I’d offered to teach a friend, Richard Watt, to paint in my style. He was a quick learner and immediately was bitten by the bug. He loved the discipline, patience and the process of painting in my style and technique. Given that he was committed to his newfound passion for painting, I felt it was time to show him other aspects of my unique process. It was time to show him how I find my images.
Early in March of 2016 Richard and I drove up the Sunshine Coast for a short 40-minute excursion. Our destination was Smuggler Cove Provincial Park. I’d found paintings in this picturesque coastal wilderness before. As we drove I told Richard of the process I’d learned from Roy Vickers all those years ago. It was important that we approach the day with creative, open minds. We had to slow our pace to allow the very essence of where we were to enter. We had to absorb where we would be and every nuance of nature as it opens before us. Spoken, or written down, it sounds so “artsy”, but it really works. We’d search out an image. He’d know it when he saw it, if he’d approach all of this with an open mind.
While we walked the trails of the park I kept responding to the beckoning subliminal suggestions coming my way as we explored. We’d go off trail and climb a rock. We’d stop to appreciate a vista view. I didn’t know if Richard was getting into it, but the teacher sure was.
At the end of the trail, where Smuggler Cove touches the open waters of the Salish Sea, I saw a tree on a rocky point that immediately drew me in. Climbing down the rocks to the water’s edge, I sat down and put my camera close to the surface of the water. I’d found the image that had been calling to me. My work was done in terms of finding my image at least. On the return walk Richard found an image too. A staircase of rocks clambering up the wooded slope would be his painting.
I returned home with a compulsion to get my painting done. Within two weeks it was completed and I’m pleased with the result. I think this is the way I’ll teach from now on. I’ll pass on my style and technique individually. It’s far more enjoyable and rewarding, and who knows – maybe I’ll find another painting like “THE TREE AT SMUGGLER COVE”
