Surprise Yourself! Rocky Mountain Creativity Retreat for Women

I'm excited to be planning another workshop! This one is a little different than my annual painting workshop but promises to be just as much fun. Check out this link: http://surpriseyourself.cottonwoodpress.com/ which will tell you all about it and hopefully get you excited, too. Please sign up if you're interested.

This will be a 3-day workshop in Durango, packed full of activities and lessons that will stretch your creativity in every direction. Every day will include a variety of focused but fun-to-do projects, to help you explore creative possibilities for yourself. No supplies to purchase. Just bring yourself and expect to learn, explore, and expand your talents, ideas, and creativity. In a supportive atmosphere, with lots of personal attention from me and from Cheryl Miller Thurston, a writer/lyricist/publisher/composer, you will have the freedom to step out of the old and try something new -- and surprise yourself!

June 10-13, 2010 (9 am - 6 pm); $350 for workshop; lodging is extra.

My 4th Annual Watercolor Workshop

3 days -- September 27, 28, 29, 2009 (you can sign up for 1, 2, or 3 days)
9am to 4pm daily, at my house/studio in Durango, Colorado

Price -- $250. (gourmet lunch & beverages included, all 3 days)

Lots of individual attention & instruction, with plenty of time for painting.

Friendly & positive atmosphere, with a different lesson & project each day, with critique & discussion of work-in-progress at the end of each day. Get ready to stretch, loosen up, & work hard, but still have laugh, have fun, & eat well at the same time!

See the slide show of last year's workshop, on your right. . .

Pat Howard Gallery: FIRST PLACE, Watermedia -- "White Lilies"

Pat Howard Gallery: FIRST PLACE, Watermedia -- "White Lilies"

FIRST PLACE, Watermedia -- "White Lilies"

"White Lilies", watercolor, 29x21 -- wins First Place in Richeson 75: Still Life & Floral 2009 competition.

Art Show at Sorrel Sky

Just finished the last of my paintings for my show at the gallery. I'll have 10 paintings in the show -- mostly flowers in the new prism style. Two of the new ones are painted on clayboard. I'll deliver 4 new ones to the gallery and will pick up two older paintings that I don't want to be in the show.

Teaching Again at Art Supply House

I'm offering a 6-week course, perfect for beginning artists just starting to explore watercolor, as well as experienced artists looking to try something different. We'll learn the basics and then move beyond the basics to unlock your creativity.

Making art is as much about self-expression as it is about capturing beauty. In this 6-wk session, I'll provide an exciting variety of project and exercises that will encourage students to loosen up, let go, and experiment with their painting.

6-Week Session: August 7 - September 11 (morning & evening available)

3-Hour Classes: Thursdays, 9 am to 12 noon, or 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Class Location: Art Supply House, #24 Town Plaza, 375-0090

Cost: 3-hr class is $200, for 6-wk session (drop-in fee: $40.)

To register for classes: Call or sign up at Art SupplyHouse, 375-0090; or call me at 259-6456, or e-mail me at howard@frontier.net

I will still be offering my annual 3-day watercolor workshop at my home and studio, September 14-16.

Gardens and Faces

To put it simply, gardens and faces -- that's what inspires me to paint. And so, I paint flowers and portraits. Nothing too profound about that, but there it is. That's where I feel a connection.

I love painting my children and my grandchildren, but I haven't yet gotten around to a self-portrait, even though that seems to be a requirement for any self-respecting portrait artist. When I do, I'm not sure whether I'll give myself a "facelift", like the glamour photographers do with Photoshop, or whether I'll be brutally honest and show every wrinkle and gray hair. Maybe I'll just do a portrait of me as a little girl -- I think I'd be kinder to her.

Even though I'm not much of a gardener -- I blame the deer and the chipmunks for that -- I love flowers! So, I visit the gardens of my friends, and I travel to botanical gardens to take pictures, so I can paint them later in my studio. I just started on 7 new paintings, based on photos from my trip to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia. My husband and I went there to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and we knew it was going to be spectacular, but we were both blown away. What a place -- it was impossible to take a bad picture. Even the fuzzy ones are pretty. It was hard to choose what to paint, because we took about 250 pictures between us -- and, that's from just one garden!