I love painting with watercolor. It's more hobby than profession, like with oils and acrylics.
I plan to teach this watercolor paint-along twice in September; once in Franklin on September 6 and in Spring Hill on September 20. Message me with your email address if you would like to get the calendar once each month in your inbox or go to paintingwithsusan.com to see the current month's schedule of painting classes and art events.
Give the space in your heart a place in your life. Your passport awaits...
Today I've been working on a new concept for a fun, informative workshop where creative people. It all started percolating in my brain last autumn when a few of my girlfriends met me for lunch in Leipers Fork, Tennessee, about 30 minutes from my cottage and we spent the afternoon shopping, laughing, and moseying around the Fork.
We ran into a group of six young ladies with precious British accents doing the very same thing. Not one to be shy, we started a conversation, and discovered they were on vacation to nearby Nashville and wanted to venture out and spend time in the country. They had rented an AirB&B close by and were spending the day in Leipers Fork. Somehow we got on the conversation of Tea, and one of the girls gave me a zippy full of Earl Grey teabags she had brought with her from England. So kind! And so appreciated.
The entire experience got me to thinking how Dianne and my friends and I were enjoying the same friendship, quaint town, delicious dining experience as these tourists who had traveled from the other side of the planet. As much as I love to travel and am yearning to go to England, I need to be more cognizant of the sights, towns, homes, and gardens driving distance from my cottage and enjoy these pleasures, too. They are, in fact, more convenient and affordable than jetting off to western Europe (still on the bucket list!)
So jump forward to today.
I'm painting a double page spread in watercolor in my Illustrated Travel Journal and making plans to offer a series of workshops at local tourist sites, as well as interesting places off the beaten path. Typically my studio workshops are $149 for a full-day, but this sounds like so much fun to me I want to do it even if no one registers, so Adventure Awaits! is only $65 + site fee.
The first in the series is scheduled for July 27, 2019, at The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson, located in Hermitage, Tennessee. We'll meet at 10am for the Introduction to Illustrated Travel Journaling and "how to" discussion, and be free to walk the grounds and paint. At noon we will meet for lunch in the cafe located on the property, and afterwards continue with our painting of the mansion and gardens. I'll assist until 3pm, but students may stay as long as they like. The Hermitage doesn't close until 6pm.
Students will need to register by calling 615-668-8263, and will bring their own supplies in a backpack or tote bag. Any watercolor set will do, but a travel watercolor set typically has a small brush in it plus a well for your wash water. Besides your paints, you will also need a travel journal, brushes, black ink pen, pencil with eraser, paper towels, and digital camera. Picnic blanket or old fashioined "sitting squares" optional. If you plan well, pack small, and tear off a few sheets of paper towels without bringing the whole roll, your supplies could fit in a large pocket or two. This is why I LOVE painting with watercolor. I can leave my 40lb plein air backpack and gear at home.
Sign up for the free, monthly newsletter and calendar for more information on this workshop and all the other workshops and classes offered throughout the year.
Rachel Blair, Executive Director of The Chestnut Group, a plein air painting organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, contacted me late last year about volunteering to teach a workshop for the Paint Your Heart Out series of workshops The Chestnut Group hosts every year as a fundraiser for the organization. I jumped on the opportunity.
I've been a member of The Chestnut Group for eight years and proud of it. As a group of plein air painters we partner with land conservancy groups and historic sites to paint en plein air on their properties or along their respective rivers, watersheds, preserved battlefields, or entrusted land, and hold art shows and sales to raise funds that are divided among the artists, The Chestnut Group, and the non-profit. We also do charitable work, collecting art supplies for low-income students and schools, volunteer to teach kids, volunteer to raise awareness of plein air painting with different groups, host nationally-recognized artists' workshops, and have a whole lot of fun in the process.
Even though it is technically painting en plein air (outside), Illustrated Travel Journaling was a new concept to several members of the board of directors and executive committee. I was happy to explain and happy to volunteer to teach.
This is what finally won them over...
Susan Elizabeth Jones and the Art of Nature Journaling
Description: Have you ever taken a walk in a spring meadow or ridden your bike on a country lane or visited a formal garden or any other experience that was so beautiful you wanted to capture it to savor at any time? The sights, sounds, and feelings of nature are inspiring, and what could be lovelier than to preserve the moments of inspiration in a nature and travel journal?
Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Prince Charles are just a few journalers who kept nature- and travel-themed notebooks. Peter Rabbit and all his furry friends were characters that emerged from Beatrix Potter’s nature journals.
Nature and travel journaling was a more popular activity in a simpler time… before encyclopedias in every home, before technology and the internet, in a time when curiosity, imagination, and a lazy afternoon to explore creeks and gardens offered immense entertainment and self-reflection.
Join Susan Elizabeth Jones at beautiful and historic Rippavilla in Spring Hill, Tennessee, to spend the day exploring the gardens, historic cemetery, historic structures, “witness trees” and documenting the many treasures that will be discovered on this 98-acre estate that has been preserved through the Land Trust of Tennessee.
I was all too happy to share with them my own personal Illustrated Journal and many illustrated books I've collected over the years.
Some of my favorite illustrated journals that I've purchased are France by Rae Dunn, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature, Trout: An Illustrated History, Mr. Boddington's Etiquette: Charm and Civility for Every Occassion, Queen Victoria's Sketchbook, and all the Susan Branch cookbooks... Heart of the Home, The Summer Book, Autumn, Vineyard Season, and Christmas Season.
We had so much fun painting, touring Rippavilla, eating Marcy Jo's on the Go in the courtyard at Rippavilla.
Mr. Chuck treated us to a fabulous and informative tour of the mansion, and he was as charming as ever!
I hope the Chestnut Group invites me to teach again. Good times!!
More best selling Art Books
Last week I had the opportunity to teach a painting class in Knoxville, Tennessee.
This class was for the annual Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association Conference for its members, facility directors, coordinators, and more! We had so much fun!!
*One of the signatures of my paintings is there is at least one dog hair stuck in the paint. It's a gift. ....you're welcome.
Saturday we spent the morning painting roses at Rippavilla.
I encouraged students to paint magnolia blossoms
Or a vintage car
But the Roses won out.
And the results were beautiful!!
Winter and spring have both been unseasonably cold. We even had a frost yesterday with 33* morning temps. So I had to create my own spring and dream of warmer weather. Specifically I've been working on a new class for all ages.... Illustrated Nature Journaling for Beginners. We'll meet in the garden at Rippavilla Plantation.
The side garden, that is.
But there are so many wonderful places to observe flora and fauna on the estate.
Like in the courtyard...
And on the lawn....
And that doesn't even count the back of the property.
At Rippavilla, there is even a "Witness" tree, an old tree that was standing during the Battle of Spring Hill....
Illustrated Nature Journaling is fun!
What other activity is uses Science, Language Arts, History, Architecture, Poetry, and Art?
And shows Gratitude and Appreciation for our planet and conservation, and historic preservation?
What other activity can be done in a party or alone and still be fun?
What other activity can be done on location on a pretty day or at home at the dining room table when the weather doesn't cooperate?
What activity can be done on vacation or in your own back yard?
And is fun for ALL ages?
And is as much fun looking back on it as it is while doing it?
Illustrated Nature Journaling, of course. And I combine my journal with Illustrated Travel Journaling and a Gratitude Journal.
Beatrix Potter, yes that Beatrix Potter, took her nature journaling very seriously. She loved to identify and sketch different types of mushrooms and other botanicals.
Plus insects and animals....
And she used her imagination to give personalities to these animals and write stories about their lives....
You may think that she was grown before she started her journals, but you would be wrong.
Although Beatrix Potter was born and raised in London, she and her baby brother spent summers at their grandparents house in the country in Scotland. She loved her heritage and she loved the country, so much more than the city. And this is where her love of nature journaling began.
If you will be in the Spring Hill, Tennessee, area and would like to participate in an Illustrated Nature Journaling class at Rippavilla, then join us! Contact Rippavilla Plantation for more information.
It was a lovely Sunday afternoon painting with these amazing artists...
What a delightful day painting with these talented artists!!
The Mini-Monets were impressive with the painting of The Christmas Box. Great job ladies!!
Lovely afternoon spent painting House Portraits with these talented artists.
