Toulouse, France 2026: Trip to the Urban Sketchers Symposium and a few days around It. Part 2: Demo

Each of the Faculty Members at the Urban Sketchers Symposium was giving a demo on the first day of workshops. Unfortunately, all the demos were happening at the same time, so there was no chance to attend demos of the fellow symposium teachers (and there were so many I wanted to see!!). My location was in the Japanese Garden in Toulouse and I managed to find a spot with at least some shade for both myself and all who came to watch me paint.

My workshop was in black and white; however, my demo was in full color and mixed media - mostly in gouache - but with some addition of colored pencils and such. It ran a little bit over an hour. I started by explaining my tools set-up and then jumped into the scene. Painting and keeping a commentary running during each step and brushstroke is different from just painting, but I enjoyed the experience, comments, and questions from the demo participants. And I ended up with gouache-hands (see photo below), a piece that I enjoyed, and it was later auctioned at the Symposium and a dear friend got it!

Trip to Toulouse, France, 2026: Urban Sketchers Symposium and a few days around it. 
Part 1: My Workshops.
Part 2: My Demo.

Toulouse, France 2026: Trip to the Urban Sketchers Symposium and a few days around It. Part 1: Workshops.

My Workshop at the USk Symposium was titled "Think Like a Printmaker: puzzle together landscapes with simple stencils and exciting textures." I found a lovely place under a bridge on the Canal De Brienne and ran this workshop three times during the Symposium. Shadow and a little bit of cool from the water were very welcome as it was HOT in Toulouse. We got to wave to occasionally passing boats and made space for bikes and runners. 

Three very different and amazing groups of artists joined me in making a library of textures (made with the little printmaking kit that participants got to take home). We dove into the world os masks and stencils and how to think about any scene with a printmaking mind. And then we all took on a view of another bridge down the canal - with all the knowledge in hand. The results were very inspiring to see and learn from! 

Workshop 1

Workshop 2

Workshop 3

Trip to Toulouse, France, 2026: Urban Sketchers Symposium and a few days around it. 
Part 1: My Workshops.
Part 2: My Demo.

Treasures

Treasures used to be one of the most frequent posts on this blog. Treasures were things people around me would gift to me for no special reason. Things that one might not pay attention to: leaves, acorns, sticks, dry flowers, feathers, and such. I still pick things up, collect, and draw them - not as many - but here is a recent collection.

Things I Made and Grew Inside Them.

I made two pots and two saucers for them and grew these petunias in the pots. 

They were gifts to two people related to each other. And both had a mix of glazes applied diagonally but it is visible better on a pink and blue set.

I suspect that saucers might have a more interesting life than the pots (after all, they are food safe! and both receivers of these gifts are very inventive people), but we will see :) 

In the orange and blue sketch, the flowers were actually very magenta-pink, and I think I sketched them in true colors, but I cannot find it at the moment. However, it was a period in my packing for Toulouse when I thought that I might survive with just two pencils and an eraser. 

Gouache Adventure on a Windy Summer Day

Recently I gave myself a gift of an afternoon of painting hills and water in the Baylands. It was windy (seasonally so) and pretty cold because of that. Everything was flying away. Gouache was drying so fast that I was having a hard time mixing it in the palette. But when I tucked my chair behind a wall, it was super hot (seasonally so), and my gouache was drying so fast I was having a hard time moving it on the page. And I missed that wind. But there were terns dropping in the water near me. 

I had a great time! 

Here are two sketches that came out of that outing.