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From Pen to Painting: A Studio Practice for Getting to the Essential with Joshua Cunningham
August 4, 2024 @ 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
IN PERSON DEMO
Join us for a demo and talk with Plein Air Oil Painter, Joshua Cunningham
Working in a sketchbook either on location or from memory is a powerful studio practice that has served Joshua well in creating paintings that truly capture the essence of a moment and a place.
Joshua will demo and discuss how he uses sketchbook drawing to start an oil painting, how the essence informs the essential for painting, and how he brings that moment to memory.
His work has won numerous awards, been accepted into prestigious shows, and rewards the viewer with a sense of being right there in the light of the scene he is in.
Watch for a Series of classes taught by Joshua Cunningham starting fall of 2024. Descriptions and registration coming soon.
These 4-week classes will bring you along the journey of discovering what is essential through the studio practice of working from sketchbook to painting using oil paint.
“I took my time picking my path, crossing a stream, and following hunches down dusty roads, trusting I would end up where I was meant to be so that I could share it with you.”
Joshua lives in St. Paul, with his wife, Shannon and their children, Greta and William. Despite most of his subjects being found close to home, his paintings can be found in private collections throughout the US and a few in Europe. His work has garnered national recognition with inclusion in OPA National Juried Show and a feature in Plein Air Magazine. He was selected by the Science Museum of Minnesota as an Artist in Residence at the historic Pine Needles Cabin. With a growing regional reputation, Joshua’s work has been featured in numerous publications.
Joshua Cunningham grew up the third of five boys in rural Isanti, Minnesota. His path to becoming a professional artist was as winding as the country roads from his youth. It began in the abstract art departments of St. Cloud State and St. John’s University. The summer break offered a unique opportunity to apprentice with Minnesota fresco painter Mark Balma. The summer became a yearlong classical drawing program. Mark had opened the door to a very old world of art, and rather than return to St. John’s, Joshua chose to continue his training at The Atelier in NE Minneapolis, focusing on figure and portrait drawing for two years. He spent the next four years at Hurinenko and Paquet Studio in St. Paul, studying portraiture, still life, figure drawing and plein air landscape painting. Landscape painting began as an afterthought, but with Joe Paquet’s inspiring work ethic and keen instruction, it quickly took over. For Joshua, few experiences were as challenging or enriching as painting on location. It brought Joshua back to his roots. He was learning to do what he had truly wanted to do as a boy.
Artist Statement:
Imagine the anticipation, excitement, and anxiousness of not knowing what you were about to see, but knowing the world was going to offer you something you’d either spend the morning painting or the rest of the day kicking yourself for not taking the time to answer the invitation of light, shadow, and air.
On my way to these places, I left trails in the snow, slid down river banks, and sunk into a drift of polished pebbles along Lake Superior. I took my time picking my path, crossing a stream, and following hunches down dusty roads, trusting I would end up where I was meant to be so that I could share it with you.
