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A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of attending a 5 day workshop with Keiko Tanabe. Keiko is a wonderful painter and also a warm and gracious person. The image above is a plein air painting Keiko did of Bainbridge Island, my home. Please use this link to visit Keiko’s web site and take a look at her work.
You can read about Keiko’s history on the web, but in short, she is a self taught artist. For many years she worked in the business world but some 14 or 15 years ago she changed course and devoted herself to painting. Lucky for us! She describes herself as a ‘fast’ painter…and she is so right. In our class, she did 2 demos a day, and then on several evenings did another painting in the surrounding area. I was truly dazzled at the speed and confidence of her brush strokes. Keiko would demo, painting and talking at the same time and in record time produce a painting that every time would be received with quiet gasps of admiration for the group of some 15 or so students.
With the following notes, I will attempt to describe what I took from the class and how I hope to employ Keiko’s instruction into my own work.
Surprise! It has been a full year since I visited this blog. May I say I have been distracted. Nevertheless, I have continued to paint and work my way forward. Keiko’s class exposed me to many ideas, but since a year has passed I distinctly remember a very important item that has led me to a core structural concept that has helped all of my paintings;
In one of or ‘exercise’ paintings, Keiko came by to critique my work. She noticed that I had scrubbed in some tree branches in the upper left corner of the painting as an after-thought. She explained how it was ‘disconnected’ from the rest of the painting and that I should be watchful of painting sections of the painting that are not integrated or ‘disconnected’. This has become a mantra for me…at this point in my journey I focus much of my energy to ensure my paintings try to integrate all the components, making it a fabric of elements, all supporting the overall idea the painting is attempting to express. It has helped me a great deal.
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