The Distortion of Portrait Workshop at Kara Bullock's Studio

As I am finalizing my 2019 teaching schedule, I wanted to go ahead and open one that I am super thrilled to be teaching next year!  

When an idea of a character reveals itself to my imagination I immediately begin to tap in to the visual elements I could use to bring this 'presence' to canvas, and it almost always has to do with distortion. Pushing past the ordinary when it comes to proportion, surface, contrast, and shape is something I absolutely adore as part of the painting process and I will be bringing that love to a new workshop in California. 

 Kara Bullock has shown a deep respect for offering space to teachers who share a rich understanding of portrait and 
expression, so I was thrilled to be invited to head to the West Coast in May 2019. 

My workshops are uniquely built to offer the painter the opportunity to question and formulate their own ideas of concept and technique. This one specifically will explore these learning curves: 

Learning How To Combine Your Current Sketch Ability With A Dynamic, Expressive One

Learning Specific Techniques To Push Distortion Of The Figure

Learning How To Push The Use of Contrast To Convey Mood And Drama

Learning How To Define The Details Of A Portrait To Convey Story And Message 

Learning How To Sketch Freely To Build Collage Elements In Unexpected Ways

Learning How
 To Capture a Pose or Light Field For Reference

Learning How To Use The Rules of Portrait Building To Break Them Creatively

Learning How To Paint With Creative Narrative As Your Point Of View

Learning The Stages Of The Layering Process To Self Critique And Know When To Call It Done

For 4 days we will gather and move the line while sharing and exploring our discovery of the mixed media and sketch practice as it pertains to portraits. There will be deep discussions around process, around how our point of view impacts our visual language, and how to find the balance between pushing past our default abilities even if it means losing something we love. 

This class is for the painter who is looking to dive deeper in to their own practice and push their love of portraits to more imaginative outcomes. We will work on paper and canvas, use materials in unorthodox ways, and learn strategies that will push out out of our comfort zone to reach distinct visual outcomes based on expressive portraits.


Sold out!




Our class size will remain at 10 to give us ample time for one on one direction and personal connection, as well as space. Specialty supplies will be provided as well.

Supply List:
Supply list will be posted one month prior to workshop.
Studio Location:
Kara Bullock Art Studio
145 W. Main St. Suite 110
Tustin, CA 92780
*FREE PARKING - located at studio
Airport Information and Other Hotel Accommodations Nearby:

• You will fly into John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California
• Hotels within ten minutes include:
  • Embassy Suites
  • Country Inn and Suites
  • Double Tree
• • Embassy Suites has a shuttle service that runs from 5am to 11pm.  Embassy Suites and Country Inn both offer complimentary breakfast.  Transportation is not included at Double Tree or Country Inn, but Uber and/or Lyft are affordable and used regularly.

Workshop Policies: Due to limited class size, payment is non-refundable, but may transferable, keep reading. If you purchase a workshop and are unable to attend, AND if there is a wait list for the course, we will put you in contact with the first person on the wait list for the workshop. If that person agrees, he/she can pay you for your spot in the course. Once that transaction is completed, we will substitute that person for your spot in the course. If you are unable to attend the workshop, and the workshop has not sold out with a wait list, we will not be able to refund your purchase.

Cancellations: If the event does not reach the minimum number of participants, workshop may be cancelled. In the very rare event of an emergency or unavoidable natural disaster or act of God, the class may be cancelled. If this is to happen, all purchased workshops will be reimbursed to students in full.

The Balance of Business and Art Webinar

15 years ago I really never dreamed I would be a full time working artist. I was facing huge medical challenges at the time, and simply turned to art as a way of expression and having something to do that I enjoyed while I healed. The experience of turning to art to facilitate my healing path, along with a deep love of self study, paved the way for me to come off of disability completely and choose the art industry as a career path.

Today, I make a beautiful living as a painter, teacher, consultant, and workshop presenter. The years were filled with days where I never thought I could do this to jubilant moments of nailing my business goals and realizing this path is the achievable with hard work, devotion, and passion. When I was getting started I so wish I could have afforded to sit down with an artist living the life I 'dreamed' of to have an honest, realistic conversation about what that actually looks like. 

The Balance of Business and Art is designed for just that. It isn't one on one direction for your business, but it is an opportunity to listen, learn some valuable insight, and move forward with a check list and action steps towards the business model that is a best fit for you! It isn't at all how to get more followers on IG or shortcuts to creating a false sense of perceived value either. It is a realistic conversation about what this path really looks like, good, bad, ugly, and beautiful. 

This is my studio in Mobile, Al!

Hosted in a secret FB group with a live feed that you can view at any time, I will be sharing for several hours the core topics that became relevant to me as not only a self-taught painter, but one who moved from painting for a hobby to painting for a living and became a creative entrepreneur.

Some of the concepts I will cover will be: 

1. Do I really have what it takes to make a living at this? 
2. Am I technically ready to go from hobbyist to business?
3. The importance of being realistic about time management and setting short, mid, and long term goals for success. 
4. What exactly are action steps and why are they so important! 
5.  How does market impact the decisions I need to make as a creative business person?
6. The acceptance and use of seeing myself as a brand. 
7.  The Laborious Need For Business Structure
8. Revenue Streams and how they make or break your success. 
9. How approaching social networks with realistic expectations matters in the long run. 
10. State resources for small business are super helpful!
11. Why getting active in art circles helps build connections and networks. 
12. The difference between creative play and creative focus when it comes to impacting your skill sets. 
13. Studio needs and design. 
14. Should I teach workshops? 
15. Knowing the difference between customers, audience, and investors....and how to reach them.  
and so much more.... 

If you have followed my journey you are aware that I am a self-taught painter and business woman. I don't hold a business degree, still have tons to learn about mastering that, but have passionately devoted myself to building a profitable career around my art profession and have a well filled with knowledge about what made huge differences in my success so far. 

To check out my bio/cv, head over to my website HERE!


THIS COURSE IS NOW CLOSED!


****You must friend me on Facebook, if you haven't already,  to be enrolled in the classroom after you register! https://www.facebook.com/ardithgoodwin

To Wreck A Painting And Find It's Path

What does it mean to be willing to wreck a piece you love to find the brilliance you stopped short of? A few years ago I painted the piece below as part of a sister/brother pair called "The Sentient Twins," and I LOVED them. They are part of the children's book I am ever so slowly percolating forward and at the time, I felt I would never change them. I loved their connection to Colonial portraiture and the odd proportions they had, as well as the push of contrast. 

 Over the course of a couple of years, this piece began to give me a creative itch. I couldn't put my finger on it but something about him just didn't rest well and when that happens in my creative heart I always trust it. The time frame was key though, letting him rest, spending time with him, allowing him to share his story with me. It was clear it was unfinished. After my trip to Italy, I returned to the studio with completely different lenses, and a deep love of gelato :) As soon as I saw him I knew it was time to let him go. Below are a few steps in that visual process of wrecking and reclaiming.

I actually loved this stage, but still....not ready.

Working on the gaze and beginning the initial back lighting.

Her ghostly face captivated me, but at this stage I knew her story and it called for warmth.

Oh the look....right?

The warmth, she called for it, she resonated full of life. 

Here is the before and after, all along I believe she was there.

"She Found Her Muse On The Isle of Skye" 

This piece is complete. She holds tremendous presence for me in her creative narrative not only from her expression but also from her dress and the energy of her spirit. I couldn't be more happy with the outcome as is the new owner. I have this saying when I teach, "Never marry your base coat." Although this piece was well beyond base coat, it just visually connected to me as not evolving as it was called for. I listen when my heart shares that. 

For some of my new works heading forward I am offering a signed, limited edition print run of 25 on Epson Hot Press Bright Giclees with pure pigment, archival inks. They are gorgeous, ship for free, and I have a few left at $140. 

 

LOOKING AHEAD! 

A huge week ahead for me is filled with exciting changes and workshops. This week the Grand Opening of Sophiella Gallery takes place here in Mobile. They will be representing my figurative works and I am beyond thrilled to be represented by them. Stay tuned for details on that! 

I also head to Donna Downey's Studio this week to teach my studio workshop with an emphasis on Distortion. It is my last workshop of the year and is sure to by one of my faves as her studio is always a joy to work in. 

Last Live Workshop Of 2018 Was So Fab!

\

Last week was a whirlwind of busy connection and experiences, the kind of days artists live for and are beautifully exhausted by. For the past three years I have had the tremendous pleasure of teaching an online class based around creative awareness. This week that course came to a close and I am retiring it. The day was bittersweet because many of these Creatives were with me all three years, have been a huge part of my life, and I am forever changed by them. 

In all artists lives, we have to seek out the balance between opportunities we love and ones we need to let go of. It was time. Not for the reasons that were obvious, but for the deep knowing that in order to make room for professional growth I cannot keep the pace I have which has brought me such love. My heart took a hit, but I know like I am breathing it was the right one for me. 

Along with that ending was the incredible experience of teaching our last 4 day workshop of the 2018 year. Shauna Meiri and I met with 5 talented artists in the studio and dove in to the practices which serve our points of view. We explored testing out mediums, techniques, ideas, and then challenged one another to do it again and keep the cohesiveness going by working in multiples. When artists come to workshops here they come seeking answers to their personal path forward. This week did not disappoint.

A Beginning WIP

 For the past couple of days I have been taking a bit of a respite to finalize plans for teaching in 2019. There will be new online opportunities, different scopes for workshops in my own studio, nationally, and abroad, and  new offerings that are free or self study. Teaching is my life, and I cannot imagine letting go of it entirely, so the changes coming forward are design to reach a specific group of creatives with a passionate desire to explore creative narratives and loose expressions on an intensive level. 

Since my visit to Italy, I have come to really value the art of slow living. The sky was brilliant the last day of our workshop. Nothing like the skies here in lower Alabama just before dusk. I also had a minute to really savor the friendship I have developed with Shauna Meiri. Full time working artists often lead quite alone lives when it comes to work, but she has been a beautiful light in my world and I am so thankful for those moments.

Thanks to Lisa Warren for the great pic!

Slow down and breathe through a day or two friends. I have come to believe it is one of the most powerful ways to move through the world in a way where we can actually experience the world as it was meant to, with the lenses of an incredibly beautiful life.

A Deep Dive for Expressionist Painters

(This is the last in person workshop for 2018 in my studio)

For painters who thrive in the practice of creating non-representational abstracts, there is no one rule that drives that connection....except for passion. This art form is the ultimate experience of tapping in to our inner voice, through color, line, form, pattern, contrast, and texture. We paint what we feel, what we long for others to resonate with, and part of our hearts are left in every single brushstroke. 

One thing I learned as a full time working artist is that there would be a need, a deep desire to study and explore my point of view, techniques, and visual language with other artists in the industry. Shauna Meiri and I spent a good deal of time working through this together as peers, exploring our own framework and how the differences served one another.  We built an amazing 6 week online class and quickly realized the experience would transmit well with an offering to established painters for a deep dive in person. 

Expression Live is a four day, intensive painting workshop designed for serious artists wishing to not only connect with their peers, but invest in their own practice as a way of pushing themselves forward artistically and professionally. Six artists, two teachers, and a plethora of supplies combines to build an impactful week of study. More importantly, the week is designed to help each painter identify and articulate their own unique point of view as a visual artist. 

 Because the class is limited to a small, intimate number, one on one feedback, critiques, and techniques wrapped around the expressionistic painting practice of line, color, pattern, texture, and voice will be part of the daily study. You will have time to formulate your ideas, identify your unique marks, express your point of view in paint and words, and be guided in new directions that relate specifically to creating like you are called to. Through the use of art journals, quick studies, and technique studies, we will explore variations of ideas and then head to canvas ready for success. 

It isn't a course for beginners and it isn't a course to learn how to paint like us. It is a course for the painter who has a serious passion to paint their brilliance and commit to expressing an inward belief, thought, or emotion in a powerful, outward form. If this resonates with a hell yes, register now as there are a couple of spots left. If you have questions as to if you are ready or a good fit for this specific workshop, message me or Shauna and let's talk! You can also pop over to my Facebook page and view a FB Live feed of Shauna and I talking about this course! 

THIS CLASS IS FULL!

 

What's Included? 
Shauna and Ardith will both be teaching!
One on One Instruction
Substrates of paper, canvas, loose canvas ***
Paint Supplies
Marking Tools
Mediums
Sketch Tools
Journal Supplies
Snacks
Lunch on two days with other working artists at Central
Tickets to the Throwdown

AS A BONUS!!! 
Two years ago, Ardith competed in the Throwdown for the Mobile Arts Council yearly fundraiser and won. 5 artists, 90 minutes, in a ring painting it out. The pieces are then auctioned to the highest bidder and the top bid picks the winner. Shauna will be Ardith's assistant as she competes  again in Throwdown 7 and tickets are included as part of the workshop!  

 

Expression Online Workshop

What is it about abstraction that makes some folks swoon and some folks shake their heads?

 From my painter's point of view, I create abstract expression artwork for two reasons: First, to express my connection with the energy that flows through us, around us, and from within us, and Second, as a way of celebrating the beauty of complex systems and wonder. 

Not every human is wired to love abstraction, but for those who choose to create paintings that are non-representational abstracts, it brings us immense joy! I also love to give the viewer a great deal of visual information to consider. 

Marks of Time and Place by Ardith Goodwin

Abstraction comes in a gazillion different forms but at its core, the paintings are created by some combination of color, line, contrast, value, form, pattern, or texture. May 27th, Shauna Meiri and I will be co-teaching a 6 week online workshop which will offer a deep dive into the fundamentals and steps of strong, expressive, non-representational abstraction. 

Shauna Meiri's Artwork

Through the use of downloadable videos and FB Live sessions, and an active learning classroom,  we are going to teach how to build, develop, and bring to fruition paintings that are created with a unique point of view from painters, coupled with some unique mark making and style options. 

This isn't a course where you will learn to paint like us, although we do discuss our process a great deal, instead, we strive to teach each artist to paint in a way that fills their creative drive by asking big questions:

What colors do you love and wish to broaden their range of values?

What marks come innately and show up over time?

What emotions and intentions do you wish to express in an outward way?

What unique point of view are you bringing to the table to approach abstract expressionism?

How do you use the layering process to move your paintings from ordinary to dynamic?

What products and tools will serve us uniquely?

What are some simple tips and techniques that build strong fundamentals and shift your work to the next level?

These are some of the questions we will answer during our six weeks together and we both are quite excited to begin the journey! 

Yes, anyone can paint a non-representational abstract, but if you wish to paint in a way that is paired with authentic knowing and a strong skill set, this course might be just the one for you! Message me if you have questions, or follow this link to sign up! 

THIS CLASS IS FULL!

Do You Need A Style As A Painter?

I get asked a lot how I developed my own 'style' and why it is important to have one as an artist so I am sharing my own take on how I feel about that from two points of view: One from a Creative view and the other from a Working Artist View. 

Exploration is a deeply important part of the creative process. Many humans thrive from the journey that trying ideas out, combinations out, or theories out gives them. For 15 years I have been a painter but I didn't land on a 'style' until about 5 years ago. There are reasons for that I will share in a bit. What is important to share first though is that for the first 10 years or so, I was fully engaged in the exploratory process of being a painter and finding my way, and studying to become the best painter I could be. I was not relying on my painting practice to pay the bills, feed my family, or pay my rent. I sold pieces, but selling was not my motivation during that time, finding myself as an artist was.

The creative process of freedom and trying many things fed my soul and during those years, I laid the foundation for a much different practice that was ahead, even without knowing it. Many beginning artists jump right out of the gate wanting to sell without building their skill sets or actually learning how to paint in a way that their spirit longs for. There is nothing wrong with either, as we are all free to create and do exactly what we want with our talents. With that said, the minute one chooses to make a living as a working artist, to depend on that income solely for their livelihood, much of that changes. Exploration has to become bed partners with devotion to craft, strong business skills, and a visual language that becomes consistent from piece to piece. 

All of these options depend on one important thing - INTENTION. 

If your intention is to paint and create and enjoy the creative process and journey without a strong connection to making money, then you are free to explore and try umpteen different things and ways of creating. There is so much freedom in that. 

If your intention is to sell what you make, especially to sell what you make as your main source of income, you must begin to understand that there is a market and industry with guidelines and expectations that you have to meander through at times. Having your own visual language or style is one of those expectations that is an important part of that for most artists. 

A strong visual style helps you show commitment to craft over time, and investors or customers buy in to that as a professional practice. 

A strong visual style helps you convey your specific point of view as an artist. Truly understanding why you paint the way you paint, gives you a dialogue to articulate that point of view to an audience, and it builds confidence in your investors and customers. 

A strong visual style helps galleries or licensing manufacturers market your work as an established, serious artist. They are in the business to make money and your product having a cohesive visual language helps them sell your work. When an artist is all over the place artistically, it conveys to some buyers or markets that the artist is still learning or in an amateur phase. (No judgement there, just the reality of the market.)

A strong visual style helps you stand out among a really tough, competitive market. There are tons and tons of painters in our world. Many who are successful may not have as much training or skill as you, but I can bet they paint a lot, they market the hell out of their work, and they convey a devotion to craft and process. That devotion resonates with a huge amount of people and their devotion to craft helps their visual style become confident.

A strong visual style helps you convey your brand to a market, and yes, branding matters. There will always be family and friends who support you and buy your work up to a point, but when you saturate that market, you better have a long term business plan and action steps for growth or your success will fizzle. Developing your style helps your brain and heart connect to create in a way that is confident and strong. That confidences builds success over time. 

Do you have to have a 'style' to be successful as an artist, not, not really. But most every successful artist that I know who is making a beautiful living as a working artist has one, and a strong plan for their business. The combination is crucial to long term success. 

I work with professional artists and artists choosing to move from exploratory to professional quite a bit and we pick apart all of these concepts above because they are truly important to be aware of. Decide what your intention is as a Creative, then choose how you want that to look as an artist. If making a living as an artist is what you are longing for, start asking yourself what are you willing to do to develop your visual language and give yourself time for it to evolve while you paint your way into knowing. 

Would love to know your thoughts on this! My experience has been my own and there are many more aspects of this that I will share over the coming months. What is your take around the importance of developing a visual style?