Lisa’s Gryphon Welcomes Roxanne Steed

Traveling Light with…Roxanne Steed

I am so excited to welcome Roxanne Steed as the premier instructor this art holiday season, starting us off right on the 2nd of May, 2014 with her light-heart-ed and painterly watercolor sketching tour in the heart of the Lot in SW France.

Those of you who already know Roxanne are well-acquainted with her palette-knife oils and her quiet, yet jolly, sense of humor. You probably have an appreciation for her command of light, in just so many strokes, and her profound grasp of color. You may have studied with her and marveled at how simple she makes it look. Or perhaps you’re a collector of her work and you’d love to paint yourself?

There is probably only one of those statements that do not apply to me.

I first met Roxanne at a painting holiday where she was a guest and I was the “You-name-it-and I did-it and marketing” girl. Roxanne was steadily painting away, plein air (that’s “out in the elements no matter what!” for you non-painters)…whether the sun was shining or not. If it wasn’t, she had a hat on and an umbrella hooked to her easel.  If it was shining, she still had the hat on, but she ditched the easel umbrella. Although I resisted disturbing her while she was creating, she was easy to talk to between sessions.

What captivated me though was the last-day’s art show, where all the artists/guests displayed their freshly painted works. There were a lot of good little paintings in there, for sure, but I was literally DRAWN, as if magnetically (and really no pun intended), to Roxanne’s display area.

It was as if she could speak a language that was comprised of fewer vowels and consonants. Her ability to describe light with a finely placed stroke, made a whole lot of words superfluous. For once, I was speechless.

Tomorrow I’ll show you the painting I ultimately HAD to buy…really, it was calling my name!