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I first met Galen Cheney on Instagram where I follow her as an artist, so when I saw she was offering a one day workshop in Vermont near where friends of mine live, I jumped at the chance to meet her, and spend the day with her.

She also happened to also have a gallery show in the area that she took our class to see. The photos of her work in this post are the ones available now at the Edgewater Gallery in Stowe, Vermont.

She is a lovely woman that calls herself a “kinetic” “process-oriented” artist.

Here is some of the advice she gave our workshop participants:

• Take the time required to express the idea or vision you have.
• Don’t scrimp. Don’t be lazy. Mix more paint. Don’t cut corners.
• No effort is ever wasted.
• Have no encumbrances in your work area.
• Surprise yourself!
• Change up scale; change up tools; change up techniques.
• Always be growing and experimenting.
• Work on several pieces at once.
• Never finish any part of the painting before the entire painting is complete.
• Consider your painting as a whole, not as parts.
• Uncertainty is an opportunity for growth. Take risks. Embrace what you don’t know.
• An unexpected result is the best possible thing.
• Keep it simple.
• Don’t cram all your ideas into one painting.
• Love what you are doing. If you are not experiencing joy while painting, something is seriously wrong.

My biggest take away from her class? Modeling paste to collage bits of paintings together.

You can check out her website here.

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