I think Vermont is beautiful at all times of the year, but these past short weeks of peak fall foliage take the cake.
We had two days of upper 70’s weather last week — perfect for enjoying the colors of fall while clearing out the last of the tender veggies in order to get the garlic bed ready for planting.
Such beautiful scenery made the hour-long drive each way / each day this past weekend, to an eagerly anticipated workshop given by Susan Abbott at the Highland Center for the Arts, anything but tedious.
The Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro is a beautiful venue/resource. It’s mission is to provide “a balanced, year-round schedule of locally and nationally sourced performances, exhibitions, and events suited to serving the residents and artists of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom”. Lucky for us, you don’t have to live in the Kingdom to enjoy it.
Around a decade ago I discovered the expansiveness of the art blogosphere. Susan’s paintings/blog/sketchbooks were among several* that opened the world of drawing back up for me in a major way. I don’t attend many workshops, but when this one on Travel Sketchbooks surfaced, I was eager to sign up.
©2018 Elizabeth Fram, 5 x 30 inches, Ink and Watercolor on Paper. One of Susan’s tricks is to take a sheet of watercolor paper, cut it into 4 strips and then accordion fold the strip into equal sections. The result is a mini-sketchbook that is small enough to tuck into a pocket.
It was cold, windy, and rainy our first day, so rather than venturing outside, we took advantage of Ethan Hubbard’s striking black and white photographs of “Old-Time Vermonters” in the gallery of the art center as a way to practice capturing a human form quickly and concisely. Paired with Susan’s slides of Greensboro architecture, we had a taste of creating a sense of unity between a diverse images.
Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day – perfect for being outside. We were warmly welcomed at the Laggis Bros. Farm by human and canine owners alike. With 500 or so Jersey cows who didn’t seem to mind our attention, plus 1500 acres of beautiful farmland vistas stretching into the distance, we had the best of all worlds at our disposal for practice.
©2018 Elizabeth Fram, 5 x 10 inches, Ink and Watercolor on Paper
©2018 Elizabeth Fram, 5 x 10 inches, Ink and Watercolor on Paper This and the sketch above are both two-panel sections of another accordion sketchbook. Each square was drawn individually, which explains why the barn to the left of the milk truck is cut off abruptly. I tried to carry some element of each panel into the next to give a sense of continuity.
It was a productive couple of days and Susan was quite generous with her wisdom.
We were immersed in the discussion and practice of contour and gestural drawing, negative space, page design, color theory and the idea of weaving a narrative throughout. All that, sprinkled with art history and plenty of examples by famous and not-so-famous sketchers to study, among friendly workshop mates, made for a fun & rewarding weekend.
*Inspiring sketch artists I discovered all those years ago whose work you may enjoy too are:
Laura Frankstone of Lauralines – look at her galleries over the years
Danny Gregory
Katherine Tyrell of Making a Mark
France Van Stone of Wagonized
Amanda Kavanagh – I’ve linked here to the sketchbook page of her website
I’m as big a sucker for baby animals as anyone. Who could resist this day-old calf, snuggled in its home-made blanket sewn by the farmer?