Meet Face #14: Anne Guerin

"Anne Guerin", Face #14 of 100, 12"h x 12"w, oil on panel, Jill Banks 2011

Anne's a new student of mine -- in my portrait painting and drawing class I teach on Mondays. So, today we were getting to know each other, plus examining the process and  taking a look at my drawings and paintings spread out throughout the house... as well as putting face #14 on canvas (panel).

What I gather is that Anne's a strong, determined, hard-working soul. Born in Paris, she's participated in full and partial marathons and climbed Mont Blanc. Anne's just beginning her journey in art, but I have a sneaking suspicion that her other journeys up mountains and on the road will come to her aid.

I'm asked often ... as I was today ... about recommendations for training. i.e., should students take multiple classes at one time, what programs are good, should they work with multiple instructors, etc. I base my answers on my own experiences and the experience level of the particular student.  While I studied for many years with two primary teachers/mentors, I had a problem when I studied with two different ones simultaneously when I was first starting out. Reason: I hadn't yet adopted an approach to painting and those two competing approaches just left me confused because I didn't know how to pick and choose among the lessons taught by each. Later, I felt ready to study under multiple instructors and to cull guidance and advice that I wanted to apply. Since then, I have chosen instructors/classes/workshops specifically for what I desired to learn from them. Multiple classes by the same instructor, even in different genres are great, particularly if you need the motivation to paint (or draw, or sculpt, etc.).

An interesting coincidence is that Anne recently retired from running her own business for 30 years to turn to other pursuits ... as I did in 2001 after running a business for 16 years. Turns out her business started as Mothers' Aides. They helped place a wonderful sitter for my daughter Sarah when I first started my business in 1985. We figured that Anne is probably who I talked to, to find out the right person to come stay with Sarah at my workplace for her first year and a half. Small world.

Tomorrow I'm painting former fellow studiomate Judith St. Ledger-Roty, who has been studying in a part-time Atelier program at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia. Studio Incamminati was founded by Nelson Shanks ... and I took two summer 2-week long workshops there early in my painting training in 2004 and 2005. These workshops were instrumental in kicking my training and painting into full gear. (They are bootcamps for artists, and my lack of habits and newbie-ness was perfect for learning new skills.) Anyway, I'm anxious to hear all about her experiences.

I need to work on scheduling for next week with volunteers needed for Tuesday afternoon (2pm or after for three to four hours) and Saturday and Sunday (January 22 and 23, flexible times). I'll look to filling those slots with volunteers who already said they'd be willing to sit ... but let me know if you want to be the one for those spots. (Send me an email.) Unsure what this is all about? Look at earlier posts or my web site.

I'm a little less peppy today. Yesterday was a bit too jam-packed. I like a happy medium.

See you tomorrow!

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435