This is what one of my lovely students had to say about the workshop we just had in March

I was in a cave last weekend. I spent 3 full days at the Old Foundry building in an intense abstract painting on panel workshop. We didn’t come up for air but that was probably a good thing considering the air was full of pouring mediums, alcohols and varnishes. Fun!
The workshop was taught by two very talented abstract artists: Deb Chaney and Rojia Dadashzadeh. Their skill sets complimented one another so perfectly. Deb’s painting techniques encompass layers and glazes of mixed mediums while Rojia coats her panels in thick and rich acrylics to create a “butter” effect.

Taking this workshop was of interest to me because I wanted to experience something I’ve never done… painting on panel and building up many thick layers of paint. As I’ve said before – I love trying new things and I’m a creature of variety. I wanted to dive deeper into abstract painting and come out of it with some interesting effects that I may want to incorporate into my female pop portraits.
There were numerous techniques taught and it would be impossible for me to share all of them in this post but I would like to give you an idea of some highlights…

• Mixing and tinting colours. Learning how to desaturate a colour and working with complimentary colours effectively through layering. We created beautiful turquoise shades made with Phthalo blue and greens.

• Mark making. Using different tools to make your personal mark. I loved scratching through layers of paint with wooden sticks to reveal older layers below.

• The final coat. Varnishing finished work with a pouring medium to create a thick, resin-like effect.
 By Lisa Penz

Traditional egg painting

Today is Persian New year; the first day of spring; a new beginning.

I find it so exciting when cultural traditions overlap. It makes me curious about how it all begins and why?

Above all, why eggs?

Egg painting is done for Easter, which is coming up really soon.

Persians also paint eggs as part of their table set up, “Haft Seen” for their new year “Eyd Norouz”.

I gathered my family yesterday to do this tradition and we actually decided to overlap cultural techniques to paint the eggs. Why not? We used old Ukrainian egg painting techniques which involves melting wax, drawing with the wax on the eggs, submerging the eggs in diluted ink with water and vinegar mixes, and wiping the wax by melting.
Here's what we came up with.

A ton of fun I might add.

Professional Fine Art Photography

I realized that the bigger your painting is the harder it is to document and photograph the work in vivid details. If you are trying to apply for a show or a gallery, or simply wanting people to look at your work on line, it is important to have good images of your work that justify the actual work. I highly recommend that you spend some money and have them professinaly photographed. There are a few fine art photographers in town that are skilled and equipped to do the job. Andrea Collins is one of the professional photographers in town (Vancouver). Her fee is incredibly reasonable. Here’s her contact information: andreacollins@shaw.ca

Rojia Art: Free Demonstration at OPUS

Rojia Art: Free Demonstration at OPUS: "Free Demonstration at OPUS Framing & Art Supply Granville Island. Saturday, May 14th, 12 noon – 1 pm. Deb Chaney and Rojia Dadashzadeh w..."

Free Demonstration at OPUS

Free Demonstration at OPUS Framing & Art Supply Granville Island. Saturday, May 14^th, 12 noon – 1 pm. Deb Chaney and Rojia Dadashzadeh will be working on wood panel, and demonstrating some useful and exciting layering, removal, sanding, etching, and glazing techniques, using both opaque paint, glazes and mixed media to create dynamic effects, depth, and intriguing transparent surfaces. Location map.

Finished project

Here is the picture of my paintings set up on site. It looks great!

Art Workshops 2011