I went to a garden party...

I saw that a lawn/garden scene was scheduled for the next Paint 'N Party event, and I was very interested in attending.  As it's a busy week for most folks, the crowd was much smaller, and the artist Jon had time to give individual attention to everyone, which was great.  I learned a couple new techniques, and that was interesting!  So, here's the latest painting as it progressed.

That's it, from the Painting and Partying Wyoming Woman.

Yet another art class?

Yes, indeed, three of us traveled 60 miles for another painting/partying class.  The teacher/artist was from Casper.  Artisan Alley hosts these painting classes in Casper very regularly, and then they take their show on the road and provide classes in various towns across the state once a month. 

This is my painting.

And here are my artsy friends, Jane and Connie, with their paintings.

Had a great day, having a lovely drive, tasty lunch, fun class, and a bit of shopping. 

 I should have taken a picture of the following, but I didn't: We went into an antique shop, and they had a rare square-shaped grand piano that dates back to Abe Lincoln's presidency.  The piano has quite a story, and it quite remarkable that it found its way to WY where it got lots of tender care and rebuilding.  If you asked the proprietor, you could play it.  I asked, and she said, "Yes, please do."  So, I got to play a piano that dates back to the mid 1800's.  Cool.  I'll get a picture next time.

Paintin' and partyin'

Once again I signed up for a Paint 'N Party event.  This painting was so popular, a second party has been scheduled to accommodate another 100 painters.  

The painting started out like this.

Then we added the silhouetted hills.

And eventually... the trees, rocks, and final details...

Another painting party...

I signed up for another Paint N Party event, scheduled on St. Patrick's Day.  Plenty of green garb and green shiny beads were worn for the occasion.  Between instructional portions of the evening, there was singing and dancing and snacking.  Jon said this was the most difficult painting he had taught thus far, and he was pleased with what we accomplished in two hours.  It would have been nice to have just a little more time to refine the details, but that's just not possible in the time frame and type of venue.  It was pretty amazing to see how good these paintings turned out, and I'd guess there were 80 or so people painting. 

I was able to take pictures of my progress pretty easily during the first hour, but as we got into the 2nd hour, I was barely keeping up with the instruction and had no time to snap a photo.  The details we were to paint were taught quickly... furiously.  I'll share a few pics of the progress and the final piece.

More painting and partying...

I attended a second Paint N Party event this week.  The subject of the painting intrigued me, and I had to sign up.  I had to know how this painting was sketched and how the paints were mixed for this street scene. 

Of course, the music was filling the room, and the budding artists were all anxious to start and have fun with this project.  I discovered a few friends were attending, friends I had not seen in a quite a while, so the reunion was fun too.

We started out with a few lines to begin the design.

Then, we added blocks of color with quite a bit of black mixed in.

And more blocks of color were added, until almost all the dark buildings in this painting were painted.  Then it was time to let the paint dry for a few minutes...and the loud music, snacks, and dancing/singing to the music went into full swing.

OK, I think the party girl leading this portion of the evening took up a little too much time. It was then a race to the end to paint in all the details.  And, sadly (from my perspective) we did not have time to actually finish the painting as we should have.  The awning over the window was left off...and I'm not happy about that.  I don't know if I could go in and paint that in on my canvas, but I'm really tempted.  I have a picture of the original, and I just might give it a try. 

Nevertheless, I like the painting, and it was a fun evening.