Jeannie’s intimate, spontaneous, bold figurative watercolors first caught my attention in an art magazine. How did she develop her unconventional, expressive style, where do the ideas come from, and how does she cultivate such emotion in her work? I immediately flew to Pittsburgh for my first Jeannie workshop. That was 7 years and 3 more workshops ago! I’m hooked on seeing through her eyes and hearing about how every painting starts with a story – her story.

Foreign at first, Jeannie’s approach liberated me, saying “there are no rules and you have the freedom to change your mind midstream”. Guaranteed, she will demonstrate and coach sincere advice. My recommendation as a participant: (1) Trust her process and be willing to relax your way from realism to a more loosely rendered, yet convincing piece of artwork, (2) Invest in Jeannie’s recommended materials list, (3) And, take the time to pre-plan with ideas/photos/drawings for her outlined “Daily Projects”, giving yourself the freedom to enjoy her unique, progressive learning experience.

Because of Jeannie’s insights and candor, my work has progressed to a level I could never have imagined. Now, graduating to her mentorship program, she provides the truth and encouragement that I need to grow further and succeed–

It’s been several weeks now since Michelle and I were part of your workshop at Mount Vernon. I’m still absorbing all the information and advice that you supplied in those few days! Your approaches and techniques open up new ideas and ways to approach a subject. I love your story inventions to motivate a sense of “knowing” your subjects!

We had a great time and thank you for sharing your knowledge and energy with us.

Wishing you continued great success–

I retired about two years ago and picked up my long-dormant interest in art. My first class was with Jeannie McGuire through the McMurray Art League. She taught us how to do eyes in watercolor, helping me shake the rust off my skills. I was hooked. Her style is a fascinating combination of realism and abstract. I find it impossible to duplicate but irresistible to observe and enjoy. She is a wonderful teacher and my initial class was followed by several more, including a weekend workshop in the Poconos. The Poconos workshop was especially enjoyable with a whole weekend devoted to art, art, art. Jeannie is an excellent instructor and is able to conduct constructive critiques of everyone’s work, regardless of ability level. As a student, what I got from her workshops was some good pointers on design, creative use of color and the freedom to use out-of-the-box approaches in my art. My fellow students and I are thrilled with her recent recognition and success!

Thank YOU, Jeannie; I really appreciated your creative process and your endeavoring to teach the underlying principles of learning to make one’s own marks–not an easy thing to teach. Watching you work and hearing your thinking were invaluable to me. I really enjoyed the fact that you have no rules or easy recipes. As I scrubbed something for the 3rd time (not something I’ve ever done before), I heard your voice and felt “just fine” about doing it. I’m actually a landscapist with practically no experience on portraits or figures, but I’m reaching for something different and you gave me some valuable tools to use with my preferred subjects and helped me reorient myself in
terms of finding my own mark making.