One year ago, Nancy Medina quit her corporate job as the director of a national magazine to become a full time artist and art teacher. She says, “One morning I had an epiphany: Life is too short not to follow your bliss. Every day I wake up and my heart surges with happiness. Yes I am an artist. Yes this is what I do for a living. Yes, I am a lucky girl. Thank you to each of you who have walked with me on this path. Whatever your tomorrow brings, may it be filled with color!”

I first met Nancy on our journey workshop in France earlier this year. She is a ball of fun and also unafraid to try new things, which is sometimes what it takes to succeed. Here she is trying to steal a bite of my gelato. I was on to her!

Now meet Nancy and her special video lesson:

Talk about nervous! I hadn’t picked up a watercolor brush in over 10 years when I signed up for Kathie’s September workshop in Southern France last year. I knew I could assuage my nerves with aperitifs and scenery and gourmet dinners in the evenings at Le Vieux Couvent, so surely having to learn how to paint in watercolor again would be like riding a bicycle. I’d just hop back on and whip out the color!

Fortunately, I had a fabulous teacher in Kathie. This was my first Kathie George workshop, and I knew I was in the presence of greatness. When Kathie called me on the phone to talk to me about the class, I felt like I was talking to a rock star! Her international reputation turned out to be well founded. On our first day painting in the studio, I piled on the dark sap green in step one, and then pronounced my painting a disaster. Kathie patiently showed me how to lift out color and easily make corrections in watercolor. I was astounded. Of all the watercolor teachers I had had in the past, not one had ever taught me how to make corrections that worked. If I had started with a teacher like Kathie, I know I would never have abandoned watercolor! Next, I painted a little French flower market, with a lady holding a bundle of roses. The lady had on a hat. The hat became dark. The hat became really dark. With my newfound “You Can Make Corrections in Watercolors Superpowers” (thanks to Kathie!) I wiped that little lady out of the watercolor, and replaced her with more scenery. (See, I have the power to wipe out people, just so you’re forewarned!) Here’s the finished painting, and I was so much happier with it once the pilgrim woman was eliminated.

Kathie was patient, and thorough and easy to understand in all of her lessons. She gave us so many great projects and ways to approach water and mixed media, I felt like a kid at a candy store, or in my case, a lady at a Krispy Kreme donut shop with zero hang-ups about pant size! She taught us how to use crackly paste to add textures, she shared lessons on negative painting, she passed out kits to all of us with really fun silk scarf painting projects. Most of all, she gave me back my confidence when it comes to water color painting.

If you wonder why Kathie’s workshops fill up before you can say Jack Sprat, now you know. She’s a great teacher. Plus she has a little magical flying pig. Be sure to ask her about that, next time you’re in one of her classes…

Thank you, Nancy, for this cool video! We love your work.

Visit Nancy on her wonderful website:  www.NancyMedina.com

I hope that you all enjoyed this guest post. Thanks so much for reading!

Kathie  xo