Neadeen Masters CDA - Country Carousel Art©

Mission Statement 

To provide a rudder and compass so students  develop the artist's eye to 'see'

"He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast" ~ Leonardo

'The Painter in his Studio' by

 Francois Boucher (French)

About the Studio

Country Carousel Arts began in 1986 and is a Teaching Art Studio. It is located in our home, just outside the beautiful city of Kelowna on the 'Westside' in one of the most beautiful areas of Western Canada. The Central Okanagan Valley of British Columbia is truly a painter’s paradise and many artists make their home in this valley. Kelowna is a one hour flight from Vancouver, on the West Coast, the area is well known as a wine and fruit lover’s paradise. The studio, can accommodate twelve students comfortably, each student having a large work area with two students seated at each table. The studio has its own entrance which opens to a covered patio for use in the warmer months and a fireplace for use in the cooler ones. When I am not away teaching on travel assignments,  I teach weekly 'open' classes and special weekend workshops. These seminars can be seen listed on the seminars pages of this website.

The Teaching Goals ~ Subjects and Topics

The subjects and topics are as different as the students themselves. Classes are offered in acrylic medium and canvas is usually the surface of choice. The scope of topics offered at class, is wide and can encompass many diverse subjects. The subjects range from landscapes to seascapes, tropical to winter, still life, floral and ocean life to wild life and birds. No topic is off limits as we study art theory as the basis of each class. Examples of these can be seen on the Gallery pages of my website.

Because I love the study of art as a whole discipline, teaching theory is the foundation of each lesson, skills that are easily transferable from one topic to the other are stressed. Imparting to students the ability to switch or move from one subject to the other, creating a more rounded artist is the ultimate goal of each of my classes.

Transferable skills

Transferable skills are the keys to our freedom as an artist. It is through these transferable skills that we are able to apply and interpret any material we choose. I believe that this is what builds our artistic confidence and through confidence our creativity is nurtured and developed. Every artist needs to know what the principals or rules of art are and how we can use and apply them as a guide to correctly develop our own work regardless of topic, subject, style or skill. This is the most valuable part of the painting journey - discovering these art rules is the journey, its the bumpy road with all the twists and turns and huge big pot holes that we fall into, it is where we learn the most about the game of art, it causes us to tap into those 'critical thinking skills' and some rules help us figure out ways to climb out of the pot holes and move on. All art is created from the same rules, it is up to us as artists to discover them.

Eventually the trained 'eye' of the artist is what smoothes out the road ahead so we can spend more time looking at the beautiful scenery going by... If we try to learn the 'rules' we may enjoy playing the game of painting......  more gracefully.