Instructor: Shelby Keefe
Medium: Oil Painting (Plein Air )
Dates: April 18–20, 2015 (Directly after Plein Air Convention)
Tuition: $450.00
Class Size: Limited to 12 Students
Level: Students to Advanced.
Extend your time in California after the Plein Air Convention in Monterey by taking this 3-day workshop!
One of the biggest challenges for plein air painters is to successfully narrow down infinite amounts of detail and express the essence of a scene. Students will learn and apply strategies for simplification, value accuracy, compositional uniqueness and much more. Shelby will share her method of applying complimentary colors as an underpainting to the white canvas, and jumping in with both feet to grab the light before it changes. She will demonstrate her technique every morning and then help each student one-on-one throughout the rest of the day.
Students will have opportunities to paint:
- The dramatic California coastline
- The quaint Carmel architecture
About Shelby Keefe
Shelby Keefe is a nationally recognized, award-winning impressionist painter, teacher and performance artist. Earning a BFA in 1981, she embarked on a career as a graphic designer. She became a full-time fine artist in 2005 and travels nation-wide painting, teaching and competing in plein air competitions as well as producing work in her studio/gallery in Milwaukee, WI. She was recently featured on the cover of PleinAir Magazine because of her first place prize in the magazine’s 2013 Salon Competition. She has collectors all over the country and in corporate, museum and public collections. She is represented by Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Door County, WI, Oh-Be-Joyful Gallery in Crested Butte, CO and the Marshall Gallery of Fine Art in Scottsdale, AZ
Artist Statement:
My creative intentions are to put the viewer in the scene, transforming their mood through color and composition. I’m attracted to scenes where the subjects are dramatically lit, which adds a vibrancy and a sense of immediacy to my paintings. I bring my passion for drawing into my paintings which depict architecture, people, or cars; applying the oils freely and liberally over vibrantly toned under paintings.
“Thank you Shelby for your fresh and inspiring approach to a painting workshop and for sharing your passion for painting. A wonderful experience was had by all. Your approachable manner and talent to skillfully lead participants through your unique painting process makes you a first-class instructor. You have totally changed the way I see and make paintings. I am grateful for your guidance and instruction and look forward painting with you again.”
—Denise Broussard, from the Lafayette Art Association in Lafayette, LA
Recent Honors and Awards:
- 2012, 2013, 2014 Invited Artist — Sedona Plein Air Festival
- 2013, First Place Winner, Plein Air Magazine’s Salon Competition, (awarded $15,000 and the cover of Plein Air Magazine)
- 2014, Plein Air Richmond, received “Third Place Award,” Richmond, VA
- 2012, Easels in Frederick, received “Best Painting with an Architectural Subject”, Frederick, MD
- 2012, Wayne Plein Air Festival, received “Best of Show” and “Plein Air Magazine Award” (2 separate paintings were singled out), Wayne, PA
- 2012 Door County Plein Air Festival, “Third Place Award,” Fish Creek, WI
