I just finished a great workshop with painter Doug Braithwaite through the excellent Illume Gallery in Salt Lake City. The Illume Gallery regularly hosts painting workshops, but this was the first I had taken through it. The experience was such a treasure, and I loved learning from Doug.

We did a plein air study on the first day, and then spent the next two days in the studio creating a larger work from the plein air study. There were so many perfectly refined techniques Doug shared that helped me to embrace the color (seen vividly through the plein air study the first afternoon), the composition (which was refined the first day in the studio), the hard and soft edges in glazed layers on the final, larger panel, and more.

I chose to face to the east (in the afternoon sun) and paint a small, golden-stuccoed guest house connected to a larger house, complete with two patio chairs just begging to be sat in. Between the red roof, the immaculate landscaping, and the tininess of the house, it was a delightful subject.