Oils and Pastels by Margaret Dyer

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year. And speaking of new year, here's my current workshop schedule for 2016.

I'm teaching in Europe again this spring (2 workshops: one in France, the other in Florence, Italy). If you've been fantasizing about joining me, now is a good time to reserve your space; my classes fill to capacity quickly. And airfare is cheaper when you purchase early.   France workshop - May 8-21, 2016  (click for details) I'll be returning for the 7th year to La Bonne Etoile in Fontaine-Fourches, France , a second home to me now. Kippy's and Jerome's beautiful 250 year old farmhouse can accommodate 10 of us. We are wined and dined to excess; the table is set beautifully for every meal, and there is laughter until the wee hours. But everyone is always wide awake and eager the next morning to get into the studio for a full day of painting with the model. In the studio we set up a Degas-esque boudoir scene with an antique iron bed and lots of patterned fabrics. We will have photo sessions with a model, and work from our photos later in the week. If ...

Occasionally, when I have a model pose for my classes, my students and I pay her extra for some photography time at the end of the class. Here's a sketch I did during class one day recently from a photo of Denise. It's a new pastel up for auction on Daily Paintworks. "Denise with Striped Fabric" is a 12 x16 pastel on Pastelbord. You can go here to view auction. While you're viewing it, take a look at my other pieces still available.    

This is Mimi, who posed for us during my summer workshop last year at La Bonne Etoile in Fontaine-Fourches, France. In June, the garden is in full bloom. This is an unframed 9x12 pastel on Sennelier LaCarte pastel card, up for auction on Daily Paintworks. Bidding begins at $200. Click here to view auction.

This is a sweet little 5x7 pastel, which I have always loved. But it's time to give it a new home. I need the frame! Bidding begins at $100 on Daily Paintworks. Click here to view auction.

"Carousel Arch at the Louvre" is a 9x12 oil sketch on canvas board, available at auction on Daily Paintworks. Click here to view auction.

Enniscorthy or 'Scorthy (Irish: Inis Córthaidh) is the second largest town in County Wexford. With a history going back to 465 it is said to be one of the longest continuously-occupied sites in Ireland. This image is from a plein air event I did in County Wexford, Ireland in 2013. I painted it recently in an oil painting class I'm taking from Jim Richards. It is a 12x9" oil on board, and is  up for auction on Daily Paintworks. Click on title above or here to view auction. Another thing... My one-day pastel workshop at The Red Cockerill Gallery in Austel GA, is this coming Saturday. There is still room if you want to join us. We will have a model for the first hour, whom we will photograph in various positions. Then we'll work from our photos for the rest of the day. You'll learn how to work with a live model, set up lighting for a photo shoot, and work from photos. Where : The Red Cockerill Gallery 2845 Cemetary Street, Austell, GA 30106 (a suburb of ...

"Bathing Beauties" were 2 little girls playing in the water on Tybee Island this summer. It's an 8x10 pastel on Pastelbord available at auction on Daily Paintworks. Here's a link to view the auction: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/429618

My Wednesday classes at Spruill Art Center in Dunwoody (north Atlanta) begin September 23. There's still room in both morning and evening classes. Call Spruill to register. http://www.spruillarts.org

I am home. It takes me a little while to acclimate to the eastern time zone, deal with the accumulated pile of bills and overgrown lawn, a horrific site when I got home (several neighbors came by to see if my lawnmower had been stolen). Yesterday I was busy from morning until evening trying to tame the jungle that appeared while I was gone, all the while intending to get onto the computer to thank everyone I spent the last two weeks with for an incredible time. I cranked out quite a few pastels during the workshop; I consider them demonstrations. So I'm putting them up on Daily Paintworks to auction off. Most of them, like this one, are 12x15 on Sennelier LaCarte pastel card. Bidding begins at $200. Click on the headline above or here to view the auction:  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/427952 Now the difficult task at hand for me is getting into the habit of eating significantly less and losing all the weight I put on tasting every bit ...

Last night, Thursday, there was a chill in the air. Jerome lit a fire. People are feeling a little sad. It's almost over. It's Friday. Our last day here. Everybody has finished up their work. After lunch we will clean up the studio, move all the tables out of the way, vacuum, arrange our work on large boards propped up by easels around the perimeter of the studio, we'll set a table with champagne glasses, flowers, munchies, we'll clean ourselves up, and return to the studio to greet guests who arrive for the vernissage. As soon as I get photos of our evening, I'm packing away my computer. Tomorrow we all depart. A shuttle will be outside the front gate at 7:00 a.m., 5 of us will pile on with our luggage and newly finished pastels; I will be among them. Two more shuttles will arrive throughout the day to retrieve the rest of the students, leaving Jerome and Kippy with a quiet house again. And a clean studio. I think the vernissage is Kippy's way of gettin...

It's 11 o'clockish in the evening right now. I have just made my way up the stairs to my room after a dinner full of laughter and the most amazing lamb stew I've ever had. What started out as strangers a week ago has become a cohesive group of friends. There is constant laughter--almost annoyingly so in the mornings while I'm skipping breakfasts to have an uninterrupted shower and some internet time. I hear them all laughing down on the patio where breakfast is served on sunny warm mornings. Who laughs in the morning? I have not had time to write. Breakfast is served from 8:30-9:30. We're usually in the studio by 9:45. We break for lunch, then run back up to the studio. Lunch in the afternoon lasts a couple of hours. Back up to the studio until a little before dinner. We clean up a little, have a glass of wine, then sit for a couple of hours for dinner. We don't leave the dinner table until almost 11 some n...