Color Me Happy

A Painter’s Workshop on Color, Confidence & Choice

Color doesn’t have to be complicated.
It can be intuitive, expressive, and deeply satisfying.

Color Me Happy is a hands-on painting workshop designed to help painters truly understand color — how it mixes, how it behaves, and how to use it with confidence and intention.

This is not a workshop about memorizing color theory.
It’s about learning how color works, so you can trust your instincts and make clearer choices in your own studio.

Sound familiar?

“Now if only I could remember how I made that color…”

Or maybe this one:

“I want to paint an abstract, but it always comes out muddy.”

These aren’t failures or beginner mistakes.
They’re signs that a painting needs structure beneath the intuition.

Color Me Happy was created to give you that structure — without flattening your voice.

What This Workshop Is Really About

Finished paintings are not the goal of this workshop.

Color Me Happy is about slowing down long enough to truly understand color — how it mixes, how it behaves, and how different color schemes create harmony, tension, and energy. The focus is on building practical knowledge you can take back to your own studio and use with confidence long after the workshop ends.

Throughout the class, students will work in a Color Me Happy Sketchbook, exploring palettes, schemes, and variations through hands-on exercises. This sketchbook becomes an invaluable studio reference — one you create yourself — to return to whenever questions about color arise.

You won’t leave with finished paintings.
You’ll leave with understanding.

What We’ll Explore

• Single-pigment color wheel palettes

• Color mixing from primaries through tertiaries

• Analogous color schemes
  (including complements and discord colors for intentional contrast)

• Complementary and split-complementary palettes

• Triads and tetrads — without chaos

• Mother color as the great harmonizer

• Tonal palettes for clarity, cohesion, and depth

Each concept is explored through focused, painterly exercises designed to support intuitive, expressive work.

The Mother Color: The Great Harmonizer

Rather than choosing a single tube color, I work with a mother color made from a mixture of all the colors on my palette — what I often call mother mud.

Because it contains everything already in play, this color quietly unifies the painting. It helps bold color feel grounded, prevents accidental mud, and allows intuition to stay intact without losing cohesion.

You’ll learn how to use this approach intentionally — not as a fix, but as a foundation.

How the Workshop Works

• Short, clear demonstrations

• One focused color exercise per scheme

• Prompt-based variations (no one has to do everything)

• Plenty of studio time

• Individual guidance without micromanaging

The emphasis is on exploration, clarity, and understanding — not perfection.

Who This Workshop Is For

Color Me Happy is for painters who:

• Want more confidence using color

• Love intuition but want stronger foundations

• Feel ready to move past hesitation and muddy mixing

This workshop is especially well-suited for:

• Abstract and semi-abstract painters

• Expressive, process-driven artists

• Artists who want tools they’ll actually use again

What You’ll Take Home

• A deeper understanding of color relationships

• Clear strategies for mixing and palette building

• A personal Color Me Happy Sketchbook

• A practical color reference you created yourself

• Confidence you can carry back into your studio — or into future teaching

About the Instructor

Leslie Miller is a contemporary painter working in oil and cold wax.
Her work is rooted in intuitive process, structure, and layered meaning, and she has taught workshops both in person and online for artists seeking clarity, confidence, and trust in their creative instincts.

Closing Invitation

Color Me Happy is an invitation to:

• Slow down

• Pay attention

• Make braver, more intentional color choices

Come paint.
Come experiment.
Come leave happier — and more confident — than you arrived.

Workshop details
• Duration: 3 days
• Tuition: $340
• Format: In-studio, hands-on, supportive and exploratory

You won’t leave with finished paintings — you’ll leave with understanding, confidence, and a color system you can trust.

 Register Now