20 Aug
During the Creative Process
‘Life is good, I recommend it.’
I was in my 30s and she was in her 60s.
I was tall and she was ever so petite.
She looked at the painting on my easel and said, ‘You love color, don’t you.’
Not a question, just a statement of fact.
(This was decades before I realized that I really DID love color—that it was the single thing that drew me into painting.)
Her name?
The artist Jessica Zemsky.
I had come to study with her in the woods of Big Timber, Montana. Flown in amid a crush of men going fly fishing (my easel and art gear did NOT make me blend in 😉 )
I was scared and unsure of myself. She was generous and joyful to learn from.
I recently found an article online about her, written by her great-niece, that says ever so much more than I could share here. Born in 1923, she was nearing 93 when this article was written. It will lift your spirits and make you know what’s possible for those of us who dare to lean into doing what we love.
Life is Good: I Recommend It (Click here to read!)
I should mention that the painting shared here, French Farmhouse, may look different than my usual oil or watercolor.
And it is.
It’s done in watercolor and gouache on toned paper.
Something I learned from Jessica all those years ago in the woods of Big Timber, Montana.
To quote Jessica, ‘Life is good, I recommend it.’
P.S. French Farmhouse is a video tutorial in my Flow Monthly Membership. If you think I am trying to tempt you to join me, you would be correct 😉
Interested? Just click here and put your name on the wait list for all the details and opportunity to join us!
Thanks for the Jessica Zemsky story. I spent a week with Jack and Jessica at a workshop in Montana.. Clyde Aspevig taught there also.. I will never forget them and the experience.. So wonderful to read this story. Thanks so much. I lived in Nye, Montana for a few years, very primitive. Learned to cook on a woodstove and enjoyed the company of the people who lived there…Wonderful memories.
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