My birthday gift to my Mom this year was a pottery wheel class at Mudspinners in Ridgewood.  My Mom had taken a pottery wheel class when she was in high school and I thought it would be fun to rekindle that practice.
  I've had an interest in pottery, but I had never tried doing it myself.  Like with all things, the experience itself was different than I had imagined.  The clay is very delicate and the process looks easier than it actually is.  I noticed a lot of parallels with painting, including the need to develop a "feeling".  For painting, a feeling with the brush develops after years of practice.
  I want to thank Kathy Peck at Mudspinners for guiding us and encouraging us through the process.  Like all great teachers, Kathy is patient and knows how to instill joy into the process.  This was a day that I'll always remember.

  Although I've never been to Japan, I've always had a deep fascination with their culture, art, food, aesthetics and more.  A few years ago, I had the privilege of taking a Japanese calligraphy (shodo) course with a master calligrapher named Denri Takai.  It was an amazing (and humbling) experience.
​  I wanted to share an update because Denri has one-of-a-kind tote bags available at J-Mart in Ridgewood!  J-Mart is an amazing store with lots of original Japanese food and items.  Check them out and Denri's beautifully painted tote bags!

  I missed a few days of updates because I was super busy here in Easton, but I wanted to write a final wrap-up post to summarize the week.
  All I can say is that Plein Air Easton was amazing from beginning to end.  It really is like the major leagues of plein air events with so many great artists, a fantastic staff behind-the-scenes and beautiful locations to paint.  Another thing that sets PAE apart from other events are the generous hosts who house the artists during the week.  I was staying at the beautiful Sandaway, which is a boutique hotel and then I moved for the last couple days to a charming cottage on a private estate.  Many thanks to my hosts who have become friends to me.
  Today and yesterday, I also linked up with the Vasari team at Troika Gallery in Easton.  I've been connected with Vasari for a little while now and it was great to see them in Easton, sharing their excellent paint with so many artists.
  I will end this post by sharing a story that I feel is a good metaphor for life.  When I first arrived, I planned to paint a boat painting.  I was thinking of all those great John Singer Sargent boat paintings that I love.  So I arrived and thought to myself, "I have all week to paint those boats, good thing there's plenty of time!"  Today, I woke up and realized that I'm leaving tomorrow and sure enough, I hadn't painted any boats!  It wasn't that I didn't want to paint the boats--I wanted to, but it seemed like I had all the time in the world.  Inevitably, life goes by whether I achieve my goals or not.  But as I'm getting a little older, I don't want to let anything slip by.
  Side note: I'm planning to be back at Sandaway in September to teach a workshop.  If you'd like to stay updated, check out my WORKSHOPS PAGE for more info!

  Reporting here after another fun day at Plein Air Easton.  I had my demo/presentation today at the Waterfowl building HQ in Easton and it was great!  Thank you to everyone who came to watch and who watched live on YouTube.  And an extra thank you to the kind people who came up to say how much they enjoy Eric En Plein Air.  Your support and feedback mean everything to us and keep us inspired to create the program.
  After the presentation, my host family took me out to a wonderful seafood lunch which I really enjoyed (I got steamed shrimp + fish and chips).  In the evening, I talked on the phone with a friend of mine from Florence; my friend is at the Florence Academy of Art and I love talking to her.  Another memorable day.
  We'll be doing more filming tomorrow with the film team at the Avalon Foundation so I'll share more soon.