Fall Oil Painting Workshop

Fresh and inspired from the Weekend with the Masters, I am preparing for another oil painting workshop the weekend of November 23rd-25th. I have so much to share from my experiences of working with and watching Jeremy Lipking, Michael Klein, Daniel E.Greene, Sherrie McGraw and Rose Frantzen!

The workshop hours and program are as follows:


Friday November 23rd, 6pm-9pm: Participants will be seated around my easel and will have the opportunity to watch as I paint a head study from a model. There will be ample space for questions and photographing my process

Saturday November 24th, 10am-4pm: Participants will paint a head study from a model. I will spend time with each student, at each stage of the painting. I will take students through the process of mixing flesh colours.

Sunday November 25th, 12pm-6pm: Participants will paint a full figure in an environment. We will talk about composition and spend time carefully composing the scene. We will also talk about colour composition.

The workshop will be held at 765 Queen Street East, just east of Broadview. The cost of the workshop is $305 if you are supplying your own paint or $340 if I supply the paint. If you have any questions or would like to register please email me at sara.sniderhan@gmail.com or call me at 416.559.6189.

Sneak peek! Solo opening November 2012

Avoiding Disaster

oil on panel

47 x 35"

2012

detail

The Nap

oil on panel

35 x 47"

2012

detail

Here is a sneak peek at 2 of the large scale works for my upcoming solo exhibit, entitled ....get back home, at Ingram Gallery. The show opens November 15th, 2012.

Lost and Found

For the last 8 months, my husband, Peter Mitchell, and I have been working on an incredible community arts project called Lost and Found. In collaboration with St.Stephen's Community House and 12 talented Toronto teens, we collected nearly 200 personal stories of things or people lost or found.

Under our art direction, the participating teens created illustrations, based on some of the collected stories. Peter and I also chose stories to illustrate.

Ingram Gallery is graciously hosting the project's final exhibition next week! Many of the handwritten stories and all of our illustrations will be on display. The show runs Wednesday May 30th and Thursday May 31st. Peter, myself and the young artists will be in attendance at the opening celebration on Wednesday May 30th, from 4-7pm.  Please follow this link for Ingram Gallery info.  If you live in or near Toronto and want to see something remarkable, please come join us!

Here are some samples of the contributed stories- I'll save the illustrations for the opening!

Summer Workshop 2012

I am teaching an oil painting workshop this summer- July 20th-22nd. The workshop will take place in my studio(in the east end of Toronto) and runs from 10am-4pm daily. On the first day we will paint an object from life. The following 2 days we will paint from a live model. On the Saturday we will focus on a head study and Sunday we will loosely paint the figure in an environment. I will do demos daily and explore methods of painting naturalistically. The cost of the workshop is $325 if you bring your own materials and $350 if I supply the paint. If you have any questions or would like to register please email me at sara.sniderhan@gmail.com

Weekend With the Masters scholarship!

I have grown a pretty thick skin as an artist. I apply for awards and competitions and am often rejected- goes with the profession. Yesterday however, I experienced an awesome win! American Artist Magazine awarded me a scholarship to their Weekend With the Masters Workshop and Conference in San Diego this coming September. Over 4 days I will have the opportunity to watch, speak to and learn from a number of the best and most successful figurative oil painters in America. Jeremy Lipking, David Kassan, Michael Klein, Daniel E.Greene, Daniel Spricks, David Lefelle, Steven Asseal, Rose Frantzen and Stephen Early are some of the insanely terrific participating instructors. I feel like I'm in junior A and I've been called up to play an all-star game!

Book cover!

I am so thrilled and exited to announce that ÉDITIONS B O R É A L- a Montreal publishing house, has purchased the rights to use my mixed media drawing (Study of Margo) for the cover of this book. I should have a copy of the book in my hands the beginning of May. Can't wait to see it! The publishers have also used the work of fellow Ingram Gallery artists Sean Yelland, Ryan Price, Andrew Bell and Yann Leroux for previous book cover images. Yey Ingram!

Straight Edge

Straight Edge

8"x8"

oil on panel

2012

The past few weeks I have been working on small paintings of objects around my house. I needed a break from the large paintings for my solo show. It is really satisfying to get in and out of a painting quickly and nothing improves your painting skills like painting from life. I'll post some more as I knock 'em off.

Studies

Christmas portrait

In December I was commissioned to create a portrait of Betty Beresford, the lovely little lady below. Her dad commissioned it as a surprise Christmas present for his wife (and Betty's mom). What a nice guy that Tim Beresford is!

portrait of Betty Beresford

carbon and gouache on watercolour

2011

A year earlier I was commissioned to create a portrait of Otto Beresford, Betty's big brother. This commission was a belated wedding present for Tim and Barb Beresford- the lucky parents of these 2 awesome kids!

portrait of Otto Beresford 

carbon and gouache on watercolour

2010