I have just taken two of my favorite art classes from Ardith Goodwin, back-to-back. As you may recall, I took my first art lessons last year, but these were the best! Ardith’s teaching style has been eye-opening because she teaches you how to find your style and point of view and paint from there. With each lesson, we practiced line work and brush strokes and learned how to use different tools. She does not teach you how to paint flowers, a landscape, or what she is currently painting. In so many other classes, you try to paint like the teacher, and much of the time, they promote other classes.
Ardith now has her online classrooms and communities live, leaving behind the vagaries of Facebook. Even when the class has finished, we all still have access to our communities, where we can share our work and ask for help from other students. I enjoy this community and appreciate all the great feedback and critiques.
Ardith Goodwin
Ardith is writing and illustrating a series of books about the lovely world of Ardithian. How she does this while teaching online classes, painting up a storm for a private show, coaching, teaching in-person classes, and more is beyond comprehension. And she does it all with a marvelous sense of humor and genuine compassion for all of us. Just look at all she does by visiting her Ardithian Arts website.
What did I paint?
During this six-week class, we spent countless hours working on our ideas in our “pages.” First, we focused on words. Words that conveyed what we wanted to paint. Then, we practiced before pulling out a canvas. However, I completed several pieces that I am quite happy with. I could never have done these paintings before taking my favorite art classes. I love painting with acrylics, and I almost always add some collage.
Most of the other students in the class were far more experienced; some also teach, and I also learned a lot from them. What is it about City Scapes? Although I now live in Key Largo, at 17, I moved to New York City alone. I lived at a YWCA in Midtown Manhattan, studied French at a Bi-Lingual Business School, and worked through school at an E.J. Korvettes on 5th Avenue. See more of my completed paintings at Art by KSB.
New York, New York!
Living in New York City as a young adult was eye-opening. It taught me that life was way more interesting than I thought. I went to the theater, ballet, symphony, art galleries, and more with an international group of friends. We had picnics in Central Park while watching Shakespeare in the Park. It was affordable because we did it all in the late 60s and early 70s.
My love of music, especially Jazz, began in NYC. I had a date who took me to the Rainbow Grill at Rockefeller Center for dinner. Our table was front and center, and the Modern Jazz Quartet entertained us for the evening. I don’t remember anything else about the date, not the food or the person I was with, but I fell in love with the MJQ and their brand of Jazz. I also discovered Modern Dance and often attended performances by the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and Twyla Tharp. For several years, I lived one half-block from Lincoln Center. I would walk toward the Metropolitan Opera every morning, with its magnificent Chagall painting reflecting the morning sun, to catch the bus to work. You’ll see that reflected in my art.
If we ever won the BIG LOTTERY, we would immediately call my REALTOR friend, Nikki Beauchamp, in NYC and tell her – to find us a Penthouse!