Painting With Rick

I just finished my January "intercession" going to Painting Bootcamp with Rick Worth. He is an iconic Key West character, who has a unique philosophy of painting. I am so happy I got to know him. Although his paintings are all over the island and his Painting Bootcamp classes are filled, he is so unpretentious and kind and sweet and goofy too. I do love goofy. He moved to Key West 30 years ago to become a painter, and he has become more than that.

For those of you that missed my initial post about the class at The Studios of Key West, I'll fill you in a bit. Everything is provided for you - canvas, paint and brushes. He uses, and we used, high gloss house paint - red, yellow, blue, black and white. His painting vocabulary includes words like juicy and the ugly layer.

The photo above is on the side of a bar, not far from our place. I pass it often. It's called Wilhelmina Crossing the 7 Mile Bridg, a take off of Washington Crossing The Delaware. The original painting dates from 2012. He just refurbished it, because all of his paintings include a life time guarantee! In his update he included his dog, who he recently lost.

A friend of mine bought a house that had one of his outdoor murals along the fence. I wish you could see the scale of it. I'm guessing it's 8 feet tall.

They subsequently bought the house next door and decided it needed its own mural that included their sail boat. They really enjoyed watching him paint. What really impresses me about his paintings nd the way he taught us was the way that he adds lighter paint to form shadows. It makes all the differnce.

The most amazing painting of his that I've seen is the one he did for the theater at The Studios of Key West. It encompasses the highlights of this wonderful place, including Hemingway.

He even tips his hat to another local self-taught artist, Mario Sanchez, who died in 2005, at the age of 97. I saw an exhibit of his paintings a few years ago and fell in love with them.

So now we come to the paintings I did. Sometimes people can be great artists and not very good teachers. I have to say, this is NOT the case. Rick is a wonderful and encouraging teacher and my paintings are a testament to that. His weekly class was a highlight of my week. For 2 1/2 hours, I immersed myself in learning about his 3 levels of painting. And I mean I immersed myself, always coming home with paint all over my arm. There was no prescribed syllabus. We never knew what was going to be the topic of our painting for the week.

Week #1

Week #2

Week #3

Week #4

Week #5

It was nice to step out of my comfort zone. The class was a bit stressful at times, but definitely worth the time and the risk. Do you ever step out of your coma fort zone?

 

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An Open Air Museum

 I visited Miami this weekend.  My goal was to visit the Coconut Grove Arts Festival and soak in all the forms of art that is being made today.

There were over 340 exhibitors and it was great. Some of it is so unique with such a different vision.  There were lots of photographers, jewelers and painters.  Of course, I couldn't take photos, but I want to share that art is alive and well in Miami.  The exhibitors were happy with their sales and optimistic about the future - and the artwork was not cheap!

But, the best part of my weekend was Sunday.  I went to see the Wynwood Murals.  OMG!!!! I live outside of Philadelphia and we have a Mural Arts program that is inspiring.  It's focus is neighborhoods and the locals. I have to tell you I was not in Philadelphia! These murals were vibrant, current, cutting edge art covering the walls of warehouses.  We walked over 2 miles and then got in the car and drove around to see more.  The rejuvenation of this section of Miami started in 2009 with invited well-known street artists from all over the world.  I don't know how many  murals there are.  Let's just say there are lots. In addition to the street art, there are lots of galleries and some restaurants.  The streets were full of people, mainly millenials, walking up and down the streets with their camera, oohing and aahing with excitement.  A true open air museum.

I'll share  some of my favorites. (If you know me, you'll know that I love cake, so you'll be able to pick my absolute favorite.)   I want to tell you, you must go see this street art in person.  You will be blown away by the talent and diversity. So grab a cup of coffee or a Red Bull and enjoy the show. I'm just going to share as many as I can.