Sunday was the final day of the Weekend With the Masters event. And what a great finish it was. I had the opportunity to attend the entire morning session in which I watched with awe and amazement as Nancy Guzik painted a still life. I would have to agree with Kristen Thies of West Wind Fine Art that Nancy is perhaps one of the most prolific and accomplished painters of our time. She paints with with keen deliberation, and refreshing joy and excitement. Her teaching methods follow the same approach. She had a knack for articulating her thought processes as she paints, which is extremely helpful to an artist. Throughout the demo, I never wondered why she made the decisions that she made because it was always abundantly clear. Below are some photos of her work that morning.
Perhaps the highlight of the weekend was the opportunity that my friend Ryan Mellody and I had to spend time receiving critiques from Richard Schmid. His patriarchal artistic wisdom was profoundly simple, just like his centerpiece book Alla Prima, Everything I Know About Painting. I am grateful that he has taken the time to give of what he knows. This and all the other experiences from the Weekend will be ones that will remain ingrained within me. I will do my best to allow it to shape my art as it continues to unfold. I suspect that if I am blessed to one day meet my grandchildren, the Weekend With the Masters will be among my favorite stories to tell them.
Myself, Richard, and Ryan
Thank you to all of the artists and American Artist staff for making this possible.