With Adult Students

A year after my mother began to paint my parents opened Lakeside Gallery. The rest of my life, to this day, has been greatly influenced by the art world. I grew up at Lakeside Gallery. The business housed a gallery, art supplies, a classroom and a frame shop. I often helped out with customers and was trained by my father to do framing.

I learned how to paint from many talented teachers over the last 30 years who gave classes at the gallery Sally Seago, Howard Rees, Bill Blackman and Lola Owen, to mention a few. Growing in knowledge and developing my own styles, I began helping my mother teach her younger students. Saturdays were full of children from ages 7 and up, all eager to learn the fine art of oil painting. I discovered I learned even more by teaching them. And I loved seeing the excited look on their faces when they completed a painting. Today I teach both children and adults.

	Darice Machel McGuire

Art has always been in my life in one form or another.  At the age of five I use to sit and watch my mother mend or sew our clothes. She saw my interest and taught me how to use a needle and thread. By the time I was in the 6th grade I was creating and sewing my own clothes. I learned how to embroider and crochet as well. Throughout my school years I excelled in anything creative. 

My first summer job at the age of 14 was at a wedding chapel, doing flower arrangements and bridle bouquets. I was very active in my school and church choir since the age of 8 and had great dreams of becoming a famous singer. I moved to Lake Tahoe with my family in 1974, I was 15. My mother began taking oil painting workshops and would come home with beautiful paintings. Our walls filled up fast with her new found love. She taught me how to paint my first oil painting at our kitchen table. After that I went with her a few times to the art workshops.

IMPRESSIONISTIC-REALISM

This is the first style I learned to paint 30 years ago. And it's the one I tend to fall back on when I'm in a "just paint mood". For my subject, I often use photographs I've taken. At times I paint plein-aire — on location. I also teach my beginner oil painting students to paint realistically. This has worked well for me as most humans are most comfortable with seeing the world in realistic images. It takes less time to teach this style of painting since the student is painting what she or he sees.

IMPRESSIONISM DONE IN THE IMPASTO TECHNIQUE
USING A PALETTE KNIFE

	Detail shows paint depth

This is one of my favorite ways to paint. Completing a painting with just a palette knife takes less time than with a brush. The palette knife provides me with more freedom to express my impression of the image I'm painting. Thick layers of paint, often mixed on the canvas, gives these paintings tremendous depth to the point of looking 3-dimensional (see detail at the right). The thicker the paint the longer it takes to dry so at times I have to wait up to a month for these paintings to dry before doing the finishing details. I often have up to four paintings in progress at one time.

I teach this technique to my more advanced students. It's more difficult to control a palette knife than a brush. Over blending the paint on canvas is common with first timers. Learning the right amount of layering colors takes practice.

IMAGE-WITHIN-AN-IMAGE USING A COMBINATION
OF REALISM AND IMPRESSIONISM

I fumbled around with this style unsuccessfully until I met a photographer who works extensively in this style. One day I copied one of his photographs and was real pleased with the result. This style has been the most challenging for me. Combining two images that work well with each other takes a lot more thought and planning. The background image becomes the back drop for the smaller image, which is the main subject. Shadowing the smaller image gives the viewer the illusion of two canvases, one placed on top of the other. I often catch people rubbing their fingers across the canvas to feel the flat surface.

SCULPTURE ON A CANVAS USING A MIXTURE OF SAND AND GESSO

These paintings are 3-dimensional. This is a three-part process. First I decide what part of my subject will be built up. Then I mix and apply the desired amount of sand/gesso to the canvas. The sand/gesso takes at least 24 hours to dry. Sometimes longer if I used a thicker mixture. Next I apply an acrylic wash over the entire painting. The final painting is done with oils.

This style was introduced to me by an accomplished acrylic artist, Debra Chamberlin. Her work inspired me and after much prompting on my part, she shared her technique with me. This scultping on canvas style is very popular with my younger students.