Five Days of Awesome

Bob and yours truly, with several of his paintings in the background.

I can only describe Bob Burridge's workshop as five days of "awesome!" It was worth every penny, and also worth the daily 1 1/4 hour commute each way to Kudzu Art Center in Norcross. I stayed at my friend Kathy's house all week and we took turns driving.

We'd arrive at Kudzu ready to rock and roll each morning beginning at 9, after rising at 6 a.m. to make sure we weren't late. (Such is the difficulty of navigating through Atlanta's impossible traffic.) By the end of each day we were ready to drop -- Bob kept us busy non-stop. We splashed paint, we flung paint, we painted with our fingers, we painted with jumbo sized brushes, we moved to the beat of music while we painted, and by 4 p.m. each day we had more paint on us than the Blue Men. OMG it was fantastic! Bob's a superb instructor and one of the nicest, most generous human beings I've ever met. And we learned so much, our brains were spinning with too many ideas to even start  processing them all. During the demos I took as many notes as I could. I already had a copy of Bob's excellent workbook, so now I've got quite an education sandwiched in a three ring binder.

My goal had been to return to painting as opposed to focusing so heavily on collage. The workshop allowed me to reconnect with paint in so many new, exciting ways. It rekindled my passion for applying pigment to canvas. Bob does incorporate a limited amount of collage into his work and he encouraged us to do the same if we felt so inclined. I did use a little in one piece but the rest of the time I just reveled in slinging paint. Since returning from the workshop I've done nothing but paint. Mission accomplished!!! Thank you, Bob!!!