Course Description:
Are your paintings just like all the others you have seen? Do you have any ideas of what or how to paint without a model or photo? Would you know where to begin in order to begin a path of artistic growth and understanding that will lead you to better and better paintings? There really is an underlying language that you can learn to “speak” with your brush to create visual poetry and provide the needed foundations for the breakthroughs you seek.
Awaken your creative senses, excite your mind and learn to reach beyond the obvious to new, extraordinary personal painting statements with the elements and principles taught in this intensive, stimulating workshop.
Biography:
Educated in Business and Engineering, California native, Mike Bailey, began painting at age 46 in 1988. Bailey was relentless in his pursuit to become a painter. Making, on average, two to three paintings per week for many years, learning to draw and trying to understand composition and design, he took an occasional workshop and developed his skills quietly on his own. Studying the wisdom of a few standout watercolor painters, such as Ed Whitney, he has made the study of design his personal quest and has reached out to other painters in that effort by teaching workshops and short art courses.
Mike developed a ten week course for the University of California at Santa Cruz entitled “Watercolor Beyond the Obvious” and has expanded that venue to art societies in the San Francisco Bay Area over the last fifteen years. Focusing on helping others learn the aspects and conditions of design, his magnetic and vigorous teaching style makes him a highly sought after instructor, speaker and workshop leader. For the last ten years his teaching schedule has taken him to venues throughout the United States and Europe. Mike is also called upon to act as a juror and awards judge for state wide and national shows.
While keeping a low profile in order to expand his understanding and skills in the world of art, he spent much of the last fifteen years teaching and mentoring others. His pursuit of excellence in the world of fine art design has earned many awards and garnered entrance into some very prestigious international shows, such as the Shanghai Biennial International Watercolor Competition. Annually, he mounts a show in his studio and home which attracts hundreds of collectors and visitors.
His work has been published in Northlight books, “Splash,” “Watercolor” and “Watercolor Artist” Magazines and has garnered various awards from national and international societies along the way. He is a member of the Santa Cruz Watercolor Society, Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society, a signature member of American Watercolor Society (AWS) and is past president of and a signature member of the National Watercolor Society (NWS).
Energetic, positive and full of excitement, Mike can often be found plein air painting where he lives on the coast in Santa Cruz, California (near San Francisco) with his lovely wife, Diana.
