Category: student show

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Opening day

A happy crowd at the VB Brewery in Victor.
Our student show yesterday was a lovely success—a great turn-out, lively chatter, and lots of wonderful desserts that went surprisingly well with beer. Two paintings have sold and one silent-auction piece (raising money for the Open Door Mission) has exceeded its minimum bid so will sell by the end of the month.
Who knew that Carol Thiel was a twin? (I insisted she and her sister pull out their licenses to prove it.)
I missed my own opening at Bethel’s Aviv Gallery on Friday. I’d called my doctor on Thursday to ask him for an inhaler because I was having trouble breathing. By the time I got back into Rochester, my right leg was swollen and stiff. Combine the two with recent gynecological surgery and your doctor naturally suspects a deep vein thrombosis. This earned me a trip into the emergency room at Rochester General. By the time they concluded that it was coincidence and I’m actually healthy as a horse, it was 8:48 PM and my opening ended at 9.
If you forget a knife with which to cut the cake (which was drooping in the heat) you can always use a pocket knife… as long as it’s not yours, since it will get full of frosting and crumbs.
My deepest apologies to Richmond Futch, Jr. I’d promised him I’d be back from mid-Hudson in time for my opening.
Ilsa Koski, Kim Gorall and Nina Koski. Speedo the Hermit Crab goes to a new home.
Frankly, those few hours on a gurney were the most restful of my week. No way to work in an ER, so you might as well close your eyes and doze off. My greatest ambition today is to read a dumb novel and and enjoy the scent of the lilacs outside my window.
Ancient Roman beer bottle.
There are still a few openings in my 2014 workshop in Belfast, ME. Information is available here.

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Doublebooked!

I have two great shows opening next weekend. I hope you can make one or both of them.
Dead Wood, by Carol L. Douglas, 48X36, oil on canvas
God+Man: paintings by Carol L. Douglas
The relationship between God and Man as seen in the built environment.
Aviv Gallery, Bethel Community Church, 321 East Avenue, Rochester NY 14604
Opening June 6, 2014, 6-9 PM
Recurring Night-Deer, Something from a Night-Mare, by Sandy Quang, 18X24
Studio of Carol L Douglas student show
A baker’s dozen of students demonstrating a wide variety of styles and subjects.
The VB Brewery, , 6606 New York 96, Victor, NY 14564.

Opening June 8, 1-4 PM
And on that note, I’m heading downstate to spend the week with my Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painter friends! See you next weekend!
There are still a few openings in my 2014 workshop in Belfast, ME. Information is available here.
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More on our student show

Carol L. Douglas Studio Annual Student Show

The VB Brewery, 6606 New York 96, Victor, NY 14564

Opening reception, Sunday June 8, from 1-4 PM

Kitty’s Dog, Moke, by Christine Long
I have an elderly Jack Russell terrier with whom I have a love-hate relationship. Yes, he is pea-brained, attacks small animals, and tries to bite the mail carrier, but he’s also affectionate and loyal.
Yesterday, one of my students, Christine Long, dropped off this painting for our student show. It could be my Max, with the breed’s characteristic pose and slightly worried expression. It will be in our student show in June at the VB Brewery in Victor.

Three abstractions, by Cath Bullinger, Brad VanAuken, and Carol L. Douglas. We’re auctioning these to raise money for the Open Door Mission.
In April of last year, Cath Bullinger, Brad VanAuken and I collaboratedon three abstractions. With the passage of time—and the addition of frames—I think they were quite wonderful.
Of course, they were an experiment, so when I was asked whether one of them was for sale, I was nonplussed and dropped the ball. They’ve been hanging around my studio since.
The three of us have decided to auction off the three paintings to benefit the Open Door Mission here in Rochester. They’ll be hanging in our student show. Just stop by in the month of June and pencil your name and bid in on the silent auction form. At the end of the month, the highest bid wins. And with an opening bid of $50, you have a decent shot of getting a nice painting for a great price, and the satisfaction of knowing you’re helping a great organization.
Camden Harbor Reflections, by Pamela Casper.
Two of my 2013 workshop students have graciously volunteered to send work for the student show. Both are working artists. Pamela Casper lives in NYC and has shown extensively in the United States and Europe. Nancy Woogen paints, teaches and exhibits in the Hudson Valley.

There are still a few openings in my 2014 workshop in Belfast, ME. Information is available here.
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Come celebrate with us

Still life by Jingwei Yang
Art-making is in some ways a hard slog. You have to be willing to try again after disappointment, you have to be more enamored of the process than the results—most of all, you have to keep doing it to be any good.
Speedo: A Hermit Crab’s Mid-Life Crisis, by Nina Koski.
My students work very hard, and we usually see progress in fits and starts—a wonderful painting glistening on an easel suddenly makes up for the days when it doesn’t seem to be working.
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget the progress that’s being made, until you have the honor of having a collection of work piling up on your dining room table in anticipation of a show.
Pericles and Golli, by Nathan Tomlinson.
 A painting in a frame is like a handsome person who dons a suit; suddenly that painting has gravitas, presence, authority. And I suddenly have a large collection of said paintings waiting to be seen.
Maine shore, by Sandy Quang.
So please join us for the opening of our class show at VB Brewery, Sunday, June 8, from 1 to 4 PM. That’s at 6606 New York 96, Victor, NY 14564. The work will be hanging throughout the month of June.
Deck shoes, by Teressa Ramos.
Come paint with me in Belfast, ME! Information is available here.
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Come drink beer and admire art

Carol Thiel’s spring landscape.
Painting students of Carol Douglas (that’s me!) will be displaying their work during the month of June at the VB Brewery in Victor. Their friends and family and anyone else who’s interested is invited to join us for an opening gala on Sunday, June 8, from 1-4.
The VB Brewery is the brainchild of Tom and Catherine Bullinger. Catherine is the person who convinced me I should teach painting many years ago, and she was my very first student. Technically, that makes her my longest-enrolled student, although like all retirees, she doesn’t seem to have much time for class these days.
This is Nina Koski’s first-ever class still-life.
This year’s show will feature works by some very new students as well as some old-timers. Several of them have only three or four paintings under their belt as of today. Showing any work at that point is difficult and I applaud them for participating.
This year, several of my Maine workshop participants have offered to send their work in from faraway places. Since they can’t be at the opening, this is generous.
Nancy Woogen is one of my 2013 Maine workshop students from the mid-Hudson region. She is kindly sending this painting for our student show.
The VB Brewery is located at 6606 State Route 96 in Victor. From Rochester, take 490 to Exit 29 (the last one before the toll barriers) and continue east on Route 96. You will go 4.5 miles through the village of Victor. The brewery is on your left.


Let me know if you’re interested in painting with me in Maine in 2014 or Rochester at any time. My Belfast, ME, workshop is almost sold out. Click here for more information on my Maine workshops!
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The world’s longest winter

Happy times in my Saturday class.
We’re really plein air painters in my studio, and by late March we are fidgeting and whining to go outdoors. This morning it’s 4° F. out there, however, which is how the whole winter has gone. We’re inside and we still must paint. So what do we do? Fish among common household objects, of course, to create still-lives that both challenge and entertain.
Brad painting gift bags.
Nina’s second painting! Whoo hoo!
Nathan and Jingwae are prepping for college, so a reflective glass arrangement suited them. (Carol T. opted for that, too.) Brad and Sandy decided to paint luminescent gift bags. And Nina—just starting her second painting—did a still life of apples in a Chinese antique scoop.
Sandy painting gift bags.
 We’ll be having a student show opening June 1 at VB Brewery in Victor. Mother Nature may be keeping us indoors, but we still must paint.

Nathan painting reflective glassware.

Jingwae painting reflective glassware.
Let me know if you’re interested in painting with me in Maine in 2014 or Rochester at any time. Click here for more information on my Maine workshops!