Let’s do this. Virtually.

Dear All,

I hope you and your loved ones are healthy and safe. I’m not going to talk about the pandemic because we’re likely exhausted by the subject. Instead, I’m writing to invite you to a freebie lecture. All you have to do is respond to this email with your RSVP.  On the day of the lecture, I’ll send you an email with a link to Zoom and a password to join.

What is this “lecture” about?

One of my favorite pre-pandemic classes was my Wednesday night Narrative Portrait class at Art League Houston. At the start of each class, students gave an informal 10-minute presentation on an assigned artist. The artists we discussed were from all over the world, some living, some local, and other lesser-known artists who left behind work inspiring generations. Their work offers insight into their unique timeline and a variety of art-making techniques. Class presentations encouraged student’s individual advancement in their practice while sharing great stories about artists.

Since lockdown began, I have continued my practice of picture hoarding. I am kind of ashamed to admit I have 25,527 photos on my phone at the moment. (My husband is rolling his eyes at this while I type!) Most of my photos are of other people’s artwork that I admire or am curious about (..and lots of photos of my cats… I’ll leave you with a recent one below.) I’m going to share some of these images with you, focusing on the following:

1. I have noticed a changing trend in art-making after a month into the pandemic, and it’s not ust portraits of front line workers.
2. New work I have come across since I’ve been deep-diving into other artist’s practices.
3. Artwork that shows beautiful techniques that I want to share with my painting and drawing community.
4. Upcoming online classes I have at Watercolor Art Society – Houston (The Wet and dry charcoal portrait- see example above – registration is not active yet), and a course on the Narrative Portrait via Zoom.

A few things to note about this event:

* My lecture will be informal. It’s more of a “presentation” or a  “virtual fireside Zoom chat”. I want to share creativity with my community. By community, I mean you.

*This presentation will likely contain nudity.  If you’d like to invite your spouse, partner, kids, or anyone else in your home pod to watch, please note that there will be nudity in some of the paintings.

*I will try to record this lecture on Zoom to share with others. I haven’t recorded on Zoom yet, so it’s a bit experiment. The recording may fail. If you want to hide your background please do.

*If you arrive after 8:10 pm, you will not be let into the Zoom room.

The event is happening THIS Wednesday, May 27th from 8pm – 9:30pm (CST). It is FREE.

Tips are always appreciated. Here are links to my “tip jars”:
Venmo @LauraMakesArt 
PayPal

Please reply to this email to RSVP.

Thank you. Please be safe out there.

Lots of love and gratitude to you,

Laura