testimonials

    Feedback from Watercolors Art on Ricepaper classes participants

          "Love them!"

            "I absolutely loved it.  
            Reallly learned a lot!

            "It was great!  Fun!  Easy!"

           "Love them!"

           "All was great .. a treat ...  
            Karen is encouraging, fresh,
            and a terrific teacher!"

         "Fun!  Helpful ... enriching...  
    Lots of tools and techniques to
    practice with and GROW!  
    Karen is a talented teacher."

    "Very organized teaching method
    which helped us to create a nice paintings"

    "This class was so enjoyable.  
         I would take it over again.  Karen Mills
    is an excellent instructor making the
    entire class feel valuable"

    "Wonderful.  Karen is very methodical
    and explains why as well as how to achieve the desired effects.  Very patient and
    complimentary"

    "Karen is fun and has a great personality.  Enjoyed her class very much"

    "Wonderful experience - so much fun and learning and loved it!"

    "Great class!  Very enjoyable and informational!  Karen is very supportive and encouraging.  
    She's very positive and has a great outlook on individuality and artistic ability!"

    "Excellent - one of the best classes I've attended - very good instructor"

    "Excellent presentation"

    "Great Great Great"

    "Wonderful Instructor"

    "Extremely enthusiastic.  Very attentive"

    "Very nice personal attention and
    one-on-one direction.  Karen was easy to
    understand and enthusiastic.  
    A very fun class"

    "Yes, very satisfied with the class.  
    I will sign up
    for her other classes"

    "This was fun"

    "Great class, personal attention,
    wonderful explanation, great flexibility
    to let personality and artistic talent show"

    "Wonderful - a lot of fun and Karen was
    a good teacher - easy to follow and methodical"

    "I've studied Chinese Brush painting -
    (many classes with other teachers) but this
    was more detailed and true to the real Chinese
    Brush painting style - excellent!!"

    "I truly enjoyed every moment.
    Of course it's extra special when the
    teacher offers such special attention
    to students.  I really appreciated the help."














































































The students below took my special 1 hour introductory class during the Santa Clarita    
Emblem Club Fund-raiser.  They were all new to watercolors art on ricepaper.  Seeing their
bright smiles of surprise and joy with their first painting is just special.





































































 "Karen changed my life.  I painted for the first time with Karen in 2007, I loved it, and have    
  continued taking workshops and 1:1 sessions from her ever since.  Karen encouraged me to
  purchase a painting that I had fallen in love with but was hesitant to buy. This painting now
  hangs in my living room and inspires me daily to take my own art to the next level.  

 Because of this inspiration,
 I am now not only painting,
 but framing, selling and
 exhibiting my art.  With
 Karen's help, I have
 reinvented myself.
 Throughout my whole life I
 have been someone who loved
 art, admired and envied artists,
 and wished I could be an artist.
 With Karen’s instruction,   
 encouragement, and friendship,
 I am now an artist.
 My life is forever enriched"
 - Lynda Frautnick,
 Flower Power Artist, California
 (http://www.lyndafrautnick.com)


 "Karen gave me ideas and tools that are simple enough to
 get me over my fear and take my first steps.  She breaks
 things down into a language I can understand.  She is
 sincere and makes me feel comforted.  
 Karen has felt it, done it and taken those first steps herself.  
 For 25 years, I always wanted to paint but was too afraid to
 take the first step.  Now I've found my passion and my
 entire family always asks for my paintings as Christmas or
 birthday presents"
 - Jody Ferguson, Stylist, Carmel-by-the-Sea.








                                                               "I started attending the Chinese watercolor class about
                                                               6 months ago.   I've always enjoyed drawing, and other
                                                               artistic activities, and Karen has really helped me to
                                                               advance my skills.  Starting from the first class I went
                                                               to, I've felt comfortable.  Some art classes I've taken
                                                               feel  somewhat judgemental,  but Karen's class is not
                                                               that way.   I feel welcome,  like I'm going to hang out
                                                               with friends and family.   Everyone in the class is
                                                               super nice.

                                                              One aspect of the class that I really enjoy,  is that it
                                                              gives my wife and I an opportunity to spend quality time
                                                              together.   As a young couple,  is it hard to find fun
                                                              activities to do together,  that fit in our budget.  
                                                              This class totally meets those needs.  For about the
                                                              price of a night out at the movies we instead get to
                                                              spend the evening together painting!

 I was a little apprehensive before the class, because I'm not very good at painting.   Totally doesn't
 matter!  The media is very forgiving. Even if I feel like my painting doesn't look that great, when I
 look at it later on the website (Karen posts all of her students artwork to the website),  I totally
 change my mind" - Justin Monnett, Saute chef, California.


 "Karen breaks down the brushstrokes for everything we paint.  At the end of every class I am
 surprised at what I am able to achieve with just a couple of techniques.  Karen does a very good
 job of personalizing her teaching and she ia able to guide us to a successful painting regardless   
 of skill level.

 I am a bit of a perfectionist and often over
 critical of my own work.  I rarely finish the
 things I start, I usually just throw them away.  
 I got to the point where drawing was more
 stress than fun.  Karen class has changed a lot
 of that.

 The last class we had before holiday break was
 a turning point for me.  I think that what the
 rest of the class was painting, (and what I was
 attempting to paint,) were lilies.  My pictures
 kept turning out looking like giant, sickly
 starfish.  I think that this was the only class
 I didn't concern myself with the end result.  Even though it was probably the worst looking thing
 I've ever painted, it was one of the most fun.  That was the first time I remember being okay
 with something not turning out like planned.

 I'm excited for classes to start up again, I want
 to paint something more obvious beauty.    
 My weeks pass a lot easier when I have my
 Tuesday night class to decompress.  
 Learning a new skill is never a bad idea, and
 aside from my starfish incident I am always
 proud and excited to show off what I've painted.

 My favorite part of Karen's workshop is
 knowing that I'll be leaving with a beautiful,  
 completed, work of art."
 - Marie Monnett, Server, California.



                                                                                 "I had such a nice time. I appreciate   
                                                                                 meeting with other women who are kind,
                                                                                 fun and supportive. Thx so much."
                                                                                 - Jennae Arrias, Nurse Educator, California
 
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Contact
Bio
karen mills
Orders
Mailing List
Events
Home
Copyright (c) 2014 Karen Mills
Press
r
i
c
e
p
a
p
e
r
a
r
t
testimonials
Art
testimonials
Jody Ferguson with her very
first paintings - peonies!  
Jody had never painted
before and her daughter
asked for these paintings to
display in her new
apartment.  She was just so
proud of her mom and so
am I!
Marilyn McDonald exibiting her
ricepaper art for the first time.  
Marilyn had painted with
watercolors for many years
before taking Karen's
Watercolors art on ricepaper
class.  Marilyn fell in love with
painting on ricepaper and has
been taking classes and
continues to create beautiful
art on ricepaper.
Erica Guzalo is a radiologist
and she has to convey bad
news to patients.  After a
particularly stressful day,
Erica painted this beautiful
bamboo painting in color.  I
will always remember this
day.  Erica's first creative
expressions were at my
classes and she has
continued onto other media
like silk painting to express
her creativity!
Jody Ferguson with her very
first landscape painting.
Jody's son wanted this
painting for his room but
after I matted and framed it,
Jody loved it so much, it
now hangs in their living
room!
Jody Ferguson with her very
first landscape painting.
Jody's son wanted this
painting for his room but
after I matted and framed it,
Jody loved it so much, it
now hangs in their living
room!
Jody's art is so popular that
her very large family and
many friends frequently
request her paintings for
Christmas and birthday gifts
and adorn their wall all over
the US and Germany!
Anne Dinsdale is primarily a textile
artist.  I call her my first principles
lady, she has sheep which she
shears and spins the wool into
yarn which she dyes and knits
into amazing textile art.  Anne's
first time painting was at my
classes and this landscape
painting was created very quickly
and spontaneously by Anne.  I
mounted it on a special bamboo
frame to highlight the art!   
Lorriane White used to paint
with oils and had graduated
with an art degree.  Painting
with watercolors art on
ricepaper helped Lorraine
loosen up and take chances,
bringing a new fluidity to
her paintings.  Lorraine
stopped worrying about
everything and started
changing internally and
found a new sense of peace
and freedom.
Tessie Chua Chiaco is an
amazing pianist -
performing in concerts and
teaching Master classes.  
Tessie had never painted
before until she discovered
her love of painting at one
of my classes.  This is one
of Tessie's first landscape
painting which now hangs in
her mother-in-law's home.
Karen Geller-Shin exhibiting
her ricepaper art.  Karen has
had extensive painting
experience and gradated
wtih an art degree.
However, watercolors was
Karen's nemesis when she
was at college.  To Karen's
surprise, she found
watercolors art on ricepaper
enjoyable and fun as the
spontaneous style of
painting meant that she only
focusses on expressing the
essence of the subject and
not try to paint every single
detail.
Vicki Cole had never painted
before and fell in love with
Cherry Blossoms while
vacationing in Japan.  She
could not find any paintings
to her liking and lo and
behold, Vicki found her way
to my classes on her return
and was soon exhibiting her
very own cherry blossom
paintings!  Bravo Vicki!
testimonials
testimonials