painting at the beach

I just got back from southern Delaware were I hung out and painted with friends at the beach. It was a wonderful little vacation with good friends, yummy seafood, and endless inspiration for paintings.

Painting with Yvonne Mucci, Anne Buck, Doris, and Gerilyn Gaskill

Sketching tulips in the rain from the shelter of a gazebo

hanging with my friends

painting the life saving station 

The little coastal town of Lewes is also known for the tulips!

trying to take a selfie!

lovely view of boats from the park

More workshops!

I just added another workshop to my schedule, this one is in Pennsville, New Jersey! I'll be teaching my popular "Skies - Scrumptious to Moody" workshop June 15 - 16. This workshop has limited seating and will sell out fast, so register NOW if you want to get in on it!

In other news, I've finalized my workshops for this year's Art of the Carolinas. This major trade show and expo is put on by Jerry's Artarama in Raleigh, and takes place November 14 - 17. I'll be teaching two workshops about mastering the art of painting seascapes, one with watercolors and the other with acrylics.

Agat Beach (Guam), Acrylic by Annie Strack

Red Dinghy at Ft Christiansted, watercolor by Annie Strack

I am an Artist Ambassador for the Chartpak company, and they are sponsoring my workshops at the Art of the Carolinas and providing my students with Grumbacher paints and Indigo watercolor papers. All materials are provided in my workshops at the AOC, and in addition to painting gorgeous works of art, students get to keep the supplies!

Annie Strack, Grumbacher Brand Ambassador 

new paintings!

I had an incredibly busy winter semester of teaching, and then I taught 4 workshops last month. With all the painting demonstrations that I did to conduct lessons, I have already painted over 4 dozen paintings this year. I painted 22 in March, alone! Here's a small sampling of some of my recent paintings...

Car Shopping

My hubby's car is worn out and no longer worth the cost of maintenance, much less the cost of major repairs (It leaks oil so badly that we've nicknamed it "the Exxon Valdez") so it is time to get a new one. My old car is still in perfect condition but it's a sedan and I really want something with more cargo space, so hubby gets my old car and I've been shopping for a replacement. I looked at over a dozen cars this week, and finally settled on this one...

I get to pick it up and take it home next weekend!

I've been so busy with teaching classes and workshops, and then when I finally had a week off I spent every day of it shopping for cars. Now I finally have a few days off, to "paint for myself" and have a little quality "me time!" Weekend after next I'm driving down to Rehoboth to stay at a friend's beach house and paint en plein air with a few of my besties. I'm so happy to have my new SUV for traveling -- now I can take more art supplies with me!

Beach Tripping

I just got back from my workshops in Ocean City, Maryland, where I had a wonderful time! My students totally rocked and we averaged three paintings each day.

 A couple of photos of my students holding up some of their finished paintings!

Some of my demos from my workshops in Ocean City: 

I also taught an additional workshop at the art center on Business and Marketing for Artists. These artists soaked up information like sponges, and worked updating their promotional materials and learned to use social media while in my class. Another fun group!

I kinda sorta have this week off -- except I'm spending the week car shopping. I hope to make my decision and buy a car by the weekend, because next week it's back to works for me!