a new adventure in Jackson Hole

Scott is taking a painting workshop - his first. We drove to Jackson on Sunday. What a beautiful drive. I love love love the sight of sprinklers watering the fields. This is what we saw all through Idaho and Wyoming. I wanted to take pictures every five miles, but I realized the views are all about the same. I remember traveling to Idaho Falls as a kid and my mom also loved sprinklers in the fields. I guess she 'taught' me to be thrilled when I see such a sight. There's just something so heartening about all those droplets of water working together to keep the fields alive.

This is the gallery where Scott will be taking his class. It is the Wilcox Gallery. The owner Jim Wilcox is a wonderful landscape artist. I fell immediately in love with his paintings of the Tetons. He allows other artists to use his classroom space to teach. The instructor of Scott's workshop is named Bjorn Thorkildsen. I was shocked when I saw him. I expected someone who looked like a Viking. Instead he's just the cutest, friendliest, nicest guy you ever met. Oh and very funny. He's an expert at painting heads. So this week Scott will be learning to paint heads. Or you could say...portraits. The first model for the class was a classic. I'll post that tomorrow. Only a town like Jackson could come up with a character like that for a model.

This is Bjorn's painting palette. From this mess of color, value, texture, and temperature comes the most amazing likeness of the person sitting in the model's chair. It's a miracle to me how it happens.

And here is Bjorn. Been painting for 30 years. Made over 5,000 paintings. Scott thinks he's an expert teacher. He spends time with each individual student (8 of them - 3 men and 5 women). Scott is doing really well. He's not so sure, but I am. If you look at his paintings and realize that these are the first paintings he has done of heads, you are impressed. He has always been good at sketching and that helps. Now he's learning the techinques of painting. He says that the time just flies by and he doesn't even realize that three hours have passed. I say, "He's found his passion."