Watercolor Challenge with Elizabeth O’Reilly

Wednesdays, February 15-March 8, 9-11:30 a.m., on Zoom

In this course, students will become proficient in the watercolor medium and learn to paint still lifes and landscapes by studying the work of a different watercolor painter each week. Through class activities such as demonstrations, individual and group critiques, and weekly homework assignments, students will learn to organize their chosen subjects into compositions that demonstrate an understanding of value, color, and form. They will also learn techniques such as making washes and understanding transparency and opacity, and will work on creating competent compositions that demonstrate an understanding of value, positive/negative shapes, and the qualities of line and color. Each class will begin with a presentation on Zoom featuring one of the following artists: Nell Blaine, Charles Burchfield, John Marin, or Hilda af Klint. During this time, students will explore the techniques and styles of the featured artist and receive feedback on their own work.

Elizabeth O’Reilly received her BEd from The National University of Ireland, and an MFA from Brooklyn College. She has participated in residencies at the Ballinglen Foundation, Ireland, the UCROSS foundation, Wyoming and the Ragdale Foundation, Illinois. O’Reilly has received numerous awards including a Pollock Krasner Foundation grant, a Charles G. Shaw award for painting and a grant from the Peter S. Reed Foundation. A documentary on her work, Ealaiontoir Thar Saile (An Artist Abroad) was shown on network TV in Ireland. O’Reilly taught an outdoor landscape class at The New School for Social Research for many years. She has taught extensively at colleges in New York City, including Parsons School of Design, Brooklyn College and Pratt Institute. She also taught watercolor and collage at The National Academy School and currently teaches at The New York School of the Arts in New York City and at The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.  O’Reilly shows at the George Billis Gallery in Chelsea, New York, and she showed at the Caldbeck Gallery in Rockland, Maine with Lois Dodd in the summer of 2021. Her work has been reviewed in Art In America, The New York Sun and Art News.  O’Reilly’s work is found in many corporate and public collections, including the State Department, Washington D.C., The Office of Public Works, Ireland, the Memphis Brooks Museum in Memphis, TN and the Ogunquit Museum in Maine.

Price: $210; $180 for Farnsworth members