When I got laid off from my job as a landscape architect in the spring of 1992, I decided to go to graduate school that fall; I mean, what else is there to do when you can’t find a job?! While getting a graduate degree never really paid off for me financially, it did allow me to learn to paint from an incredibly talented and fun artist, Mignonette Yin Cheng. Landscape watercolor painting in Sesto Fiorentino, Italy was one of the best courses of my graduate studies at the University of Michigan. I went on the trip in May of 1993.
The one month program was based at the beautiful Villa Guicciardini Corsi Salviati, which, alone, provided on-site inspiration for any number of watercolor paintings. Between trips to study art history with a larger group, Mignonette led our smaller group into the hills of Florence to paint the Tuscan landscape. Every day for 30 days we ventured out with our field kits and camp stools, stopping at Mignonette’s command to paint a 15 minute vignette or two. Mignonette, at turns, set up to paint along with us or wandered between us, bopping us over the head with her sun hat as a reminder to stop before we could muddy our work; less is definitely more in working with watercolor.
Mignonette was an energetic teacher who pushed us to work through the difficulties so many of us experienced. She was bubbly and fun, yet serious about our progress as plein air artists. She gave us permission to make mistakes, helped us to understand that by working quickly we could “let go” of our innate desires to make every painting perfect. Working outdoors presented challenges that also helped us to loosen up; daylight changes rapidly, it was hot, we were hungry, tired, there were bugs…our job was to persevere, quickly capturing the essence of a place.
Mignonette led numerous groups of students into the landscapes of Italy and Ireland over many of her 30 years as professor emeritus at the University of Michigan. Her experience doing so made the course - she had the locations, materials and methods down to a plein air science. We used tiny field kits and small blocks of watercolor paper, we carried plenty of water for both drinking and painting, and of course, our sack lunches and something to sit on.
Since I took Mignonette’s course I’ve dabbled in landscape painting, mostly on vacations. The color and air of Italy is hard to match (California is close!) although that’s really no excuse not to paint right where I am. The paintings I’ve shared in this post were gifts from my husband over the years, but the best gift was getting to know Mignonette as a person and learning from her as a teacher.
Sounds like a great experience! I like “She gave us permission to make mistakes.” So many people harp on “mistakes” that it takes a strong will not to become risk averse in even little things, yet it’s through errors that we learn the most. Part of having deep knowledge in a subject is knowing what ISN’T…it’s easy to be taught the IS, but the ISN’T only comes from experience. Whether it’s art, music, martial arts, or even being a supervisor. Empowering people to TRY means allowing them the freedom to screw things up; it’s something our society seems more and more unwilling to allow.
What a great teacher she must have been!
Trips like that truly form us and provide inspiration that lasts a lifetime.