Not content to dabble in just writing I have decided to test my metal in the other areas of the Arts. Just over two years ago I had sat in a painting class with my son who also does a lot of the photography for my magazines. He was attending classes in Northern Virginia Community College and took several of these classes to earn his degree. After some prodding by him I had decided to try my hand in drawing the following semester.

With a bit of good fortune I had acquired Professor Todd Messegee (click on to see March 2013 interview) who had taught me the finer points of drawing. This went a long way in preparing me towards my goal. Todd was not only inspirational towards his students, but he gave them courage as well as instructional fortitude to reach their goals. All his students excelled in their love for art and his classes were always lively and fun.

The following year I decided to take the plunge into oil painting and there is where I met Professor Robert Madden. His talents were well received by the school and it wasn’t long before I gained the courage to paint in earnest. Robert was much more laid back in attitude than Todd was at first, but it wasn’t long until his long years of experience in the arts began to cast their spell on his students.  He showed us the finer points of painting and using the correct background coloration to make our work stand out. Between Todd’s methods of shadow, shape, and contours, and Robert’s use of color and detail I quickly fell in love with drawing and painting.

I’ve included several pieces of my work for our readers to see with this article and I do hope that they are well received. Landscapes and seascapes seem to be my forte, and I am endeavoring to expanding to portraits and still life. I am also dabbling in photography as it will help set up subjects for some of my paintings. Water Color is also on the upcoming agenda for artistic achievements for me to tackle, and some of the work that I have produced has encouraged me to take on this new medium.

I am happily looking forward to exploring all these new areas of the Arts and I hope to start showing them, and possibly selling a few, in the near future.  Wish me luck !

JOD/TAEM

This entry was posted on Friday, February 28th, 2014 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Spotlight, The Arts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.