Watercolor Abstracts over Acrylic mix

I took the 5 day WSO Workshop with Kathleen Conover several weeks ago in Silverton, Oregon at the beautiful setting of the Oregon Garden following the spring convention of the Watercolor Society of Oregon.  I have primarily been a realistic painter and for the past several years was venturing out by creating abstract design in my backgrounds but still keeping a focal point that was realistic.  I can share with you that from the minute I heard Kathleen speak about design and composition I knew that I had strayed from my basic foundations learned years ago.  I guess I thought I didn't have to follow the steps on paper as long as I had a plan in my head.  I was fooling myself.  I will now have a plan before I venture to the paper with my brush, mostly because our brains can trick us away from following our plan.  It was a very intense but worthwhile 5 days of learning -- often outside my comfort zone.  We had "starts" in the workshop and three were close to being finished.  There was a lot of lifting and adding paint but I am very happy with the results.  It will be fun to see what comes out of my studio next--allowing myself six months to really work through all the information I have been given and see where it leads.  Thanks you Kathleen for your outstanding teaching!