Upcoming Workshops in Florida!

I'm excited to announce that I will be teaching in Cape Coral, FL on January 12- 14th, 2017.  This is the second time that I've taught in this location.  I love escaping the MN winters, so timing is everything!  Charcoal pour birds is one of the subjects.  This procedure is so fun.  We actually pour a big bucket of water on a watercolor surface that is sprinkled with charcoal powder.  The effect is so fun!  Also, I will be teaching how to paint like Gustav Klimt.  That technique involves scraping dots of acrylic, using a credit card.  The colors are so beautiful!  These two techniques are my most popular workshops.  Both paintings below started using the acrylic scraping technique!  Students send me paintings for months after each workshop.  Pretty fun! For information on the workshop, please contact  Marjorie Ewell   Phone:  239-945-3158   Email:  strgazr39@comcast.net

Save old brushes!

Murphy's Oil Soap with stiff brushes soaking in it

I know we've all done it....Left our acrylic brushes with paint on them, and then come back the next day only to discover them totally brittle and hard!  Did you know that you can still revive them?  Yes, you can!  Just stand them in a bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap for about a week.  Then, rinse them off, and it's a miracle!  They are soft as a baby's bottom once again!  Yes, it's magic!

Baking Bread, a lost art!

Hamburger buns, Caramel Rolls, Cinnamon Rolls, Swedish Tea Ring, and Cinnamon Leaf Ring

One of our favorite traditions is to eat left over Thanksgiving turkey with fresh homemade buns.  It had been several years since I'd made bread from scratch, but when my husband hinted this morning that he used to love it when we had fresh rolls, I decided to pamper him a little.  I triple the bread recipe, so that I can make breakfast rolls as well as hamburger buns.  And YES, I do spend all day doing this....Letting the yeast rise and waiting for the dough to double, and kneading it till it is the perfect elasticity.  Below is my Cinnamon Leaf Ring recipe.  It's delicious. Melts in your mouth!

Cinnamon Leaf Ring

Cinnamon Leaf Ring

From Karen Knutson (who got this recipe from the Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook)

350 degree oven

2 pkgs. active dry yeast

2 cups milk, scalded and cooled to warm

¾ cup shortening

¼ cup butter

½ cup sugar

2 t. salt

2 eggs, beaten

6 cups sifted flour

1 cup melted butter

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

2 cups sugar

Cream shortening and ¼ cup butter.  Add ½ cup sugar and salt. Cream until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, yeast, and enough flour to make a soft dough that leaves the side of the bowl.  Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic.  Place in a greased bowl.  Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 ½ hours).  Turn dough onto board.  Roll about ¼” thick.  Cut into rounds with a 2” biscuit cutter.  Dip in melted butter and dip in cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Place breads in a fan fashion in a buttered round pan.  Cover and let rise about 30 minutes.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.  Makes 2 rings.  

Being Thankful- Living in the Moment

My new favorite show is "This is Us", a show about diversity and acceptance of everyone's separate challenges.  It is heartwarming and sincere, and always teaches a life lesson in every episode. Not since "Downton Abbey", has a show captivated my attention like "This is Us". So, I replayed the speech of Randall's father, who is dying, so that we all can hold onto his words at this time of Thanksgiving.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends and enjoy every minute!

Young beautiful Olivia asked her boyfriend's dying father, "How does it feel to be dying?"
The grandfather said, " It feels like all these beautiful pieces of life are flying around me and I'm trying to catch them.  And when my granddaughter falls asleep on my lap, I try to catch the feeling of her breathing against me.  And when I make my son laugh,  I try to catch the sound of him laughing...how it rolls up from his chest....... But the pieces are moving faster now, and I can't catch them all.  I can feel them slip into my fingertips and soon what they used to be....my granddaughter breathing and my son laughing....there will be ......NOTHING.  I know it feels like you have all the time in the world, but you don't. So stop playing it so cool.  Catch the Moments of your Life, and catch em while you're young and quick, because sooner than you know it, you'll be old and slow.  And there will be no more of them to catch.  And when I nice boy, who adores you, offers you pie, say Thank You."

I did this painting while in France many years ago, but thought that it fit Thanksgiving with the couple sitting at a table, sharing friendship. Available for  $245 matted only. 16" x 20". 

"Every Trick in the Book" by Karen Knutson

"Every Trick in the Book"  $395
Original watercolor and collage,  Image:  15" x 21"

This painting was inspired from the little abbey (my nickname for small abstracts) below.  I talked about it in my last blog.  To enlarge the little abbies, you must think about big shapes and also be willing to do multiple glazes to make the values darker.  Otherwise, the process is very much the same as the little abbies.  We start by mimicking the little abbey, but then, we let the painting talk to us, and put the little abbey away.  There are collage papers in this painting that I made by creating a charcoal pour.  I know that the students are going to LOVE this process.  We actually throw a big bucket of water on the paper that has charcoal powder on it.  I named it "Every Trick in the Book", because it has lessons on the drip process, collage, masking, making a charcoal pour, glazing, unifying color, and ending with Tulip black outliner paint.  I'm teaching an abstract watercolor/ collage workshop on November 1-3 at the Lakeville Center for the Arts.  It's one of the few local workshops that I teach anymore.  To sign up, contact Suzi McArdle Suzimcardlehood@gmail.com

612-281-6781.  There are only 2 spots remaining, so act quickly! 

Little abbey (5" x 7")

"Little abbies"- a great way to get back into good painting habits!"

"Pulling at my Heart Strings"
Image:  5" x 7"  Original watercolor and collage

     I first have to apologize to you for being absent so long from my blog.  It's been a busy summer, and that's a good thing.  However, I need to balance my life so I can keep up on my blog and website.  We'll see how well I do in the future.  I will TRY!
     I'm preparing for a workshop that I will be teaching in Lakeville, MN on Nov. 1 - 3rd.  It's abstract watercolor and collage.  It's been 2 years since I've painted a little abbey (my nickname for small abstracts),  but I remembered the process, just like getting back on a bike after a long hiatus.
The thing that is so neat about "little abbies" is that it teaches you such good painting habits!  And when you're done, you have a study that can be used as a warm up for a larger painting!  If you'd like to learn how to paint these AND how to turn these gems into larger paintings, learning lots of design tips along the way, sign up by contacting Suzi McArdle Suzimcardlehood@gmail.com

612-281-6781.  This is put on through the Minnesota Watercolor Society.  There are still a few openings.  Guaranteed to loosen you up and learn how to be a better painter, in whatever style or subjects you do!
     I will be posting the bigger painting (that was inspired by this little abbey) in the next few days. 

Below are the steps.
1. Dry brush analogous colors in a cruciform pattern.
2. Add collage pieces.
3. Paint a unifying color.
4. Add black.
5. Add embellishments.

step 1 and 2

STEP 3

Sketch of Farm Site

"Lead Me Home"         $125
Image:  11" x 13"    Watercolor and gel medium

Today, I experimented with acrylic gel medium to prepare the surface before starting my watercolor.  I love to try new things to keep my mind fresh and learn new things.  It was fun to see the resist and it added a painterly quality to my painting that I've been striving for lately.  I really like the design of this painting, but can't wait to try more, using this technique and see if the process is easier the second time around.  I'm getting ready for a workshop at Dillman's Resort (in northern WI) and I was trying to keep this painting very simple; a beginning painting for the first day of the workshop.  It was hard for me not to keep going to weave some intricate designs into this, but I slapped my hand and called it a day.  Dillman's Resort is a very picturesque resort tucked into a forest of evergreen trees, located on a beautiful lake- a great place to unwind and totally immerse yourself into your art.  To read more about my workshop, follow this link.  http://www.dillmans.com/dcaf/2016/karen-knutson.html   I will be teaching abstract landscapes done with charcoal pours, acrylic layering, and lots of exciting textures.  This will definitely open up your imagination to all of your other artwork as well!  Hope you can join us!!!!  It runs from June 20 - 23rd, with the welcome on June 19th.  There's a concert there on the opening night;  a nice bonus for us!

Funky Lady Workshop in Gladstone, MI

Paintings by the students in Gladstone, MI

I just returned from teaching a fun filled workshop in Gladstone, MI where we painted funky ladies on the first day, charcoal pour birds on the second day, AND people done in the Gustav Klimt manner on the third day.  They did terrific; so eager to learn anything that I threw at them.  When I teach the funky lady workshops, I love the giggling that goes on in the room.  Students throw out their fears and just go at it.  I always tell them that it doesn't matter if you get the features correct, that in fact, it makes them better if they are not perfect.  So, their imaginations go wild and they have a ball! I will also be teaching this process in Cross Lake, MN on September 26-28. Contact me if you are interested in getting more information.

"One of those Days"

"One of those Days"  $75
6.5" x 9.5"  Watercolor 

Sometimes, it's fun to escape the usual routine and just paint for fun!  This is one of my funky ladies.  I named it "One of those Days", because her crown is falling, her hair is messy and she's just feeling not quite like herself.  We've all been there, right?  I'm teaching in Kiawah Island, SC next week, and we are painting funky ladies one day.  Can't wait to see what they all come up with.  It's always a blast with lots of giggling.

"Where the Heart is"  11" x 15"
$295    watercolor and charcoal

My heart tugs toward for country life, since I was raised on a ranch in Montana.  Whenever I paint a country scene, I want to go home to my family ranch.  This painting started as a charcoal pour.  This is a fun process where you prepare the paper using charcoal powder, and you actually throw a big bucket of water on the paper to make the charcoal powder do it's magic.  Below is the beginning of this painting.  I'm teaching Abstract Landscapes at Dillman's Resort, (4 day workshop in June 20 -- 23, 2016.) I will be demonstrating abstract landscapes on this Sunday, April 17th, at 3:30 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins, MN 55343 (Suburb of Minneapolis). There will be many other demonstrations starting at 1:00. Come early and spend the day! This is a FREE event!