Intuitive Painting

Here's my painting "Expectant Buds" that won the People's Choice award. It was fun and validating for me to win the award and also to have my painting bought by a lady from San Antonio who was very excited about hanging it in her home.

It is a special one for me, because it is one of my "intuitive" or spontaneous paintings. I started out with a fresh piece of watercolor paper and lots of tubes of paint before me. I went by "feel" to orient the paper and select the paints I felt drawn to, without a preconceived idea of what or how I intended to paint. On wet paper, I freely applied paint and water from the brush with my whole arm, and let the colors mingle on the paper, responding at a gut level to the painting as it evolved. Then after it dried, I added contrast and definition, attempting to create interest without impeding the freedom and flow of the underpainting. I enjoy painting this way and in this case enjoyed the results too!

People's Choice

At the opening reception for the Pearls Before Swine Art Show, all of the attendees got to vote for their favorite piece of art, aka the "People's Choice." Near the end of the evening, it was announced that my painting Expectant Buds won the People's Choice award! I was then presented with a check from the Elgin Art Association, and in keeping with the fun and agricultural frivolity, my trophy was pearl studded with a golden pig on top! Check out the video below to see how stunned and delighted I was! Then, stay tuned and I'll soon tell you more about the winning painting....

Pearls Before Swine

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE ART SHOW 2010

These are 2 of my paintings which were accepted for the show. The show represented local talent with both 2 and 3- D art, part of the lighthearted and fun Elgin Hogeye Festival in the small town where I live. Piscine Fantasy was just that, lots of paint and water which in my imagination became some colorful fish at play. Iris Whispers started out with paint on wet paper and then a lifting technique to create the white of the irises, then a little refinement to define some of the petals and leaves. Stay tuned tomorrow when I will show you the third painting and share some exciting news!

A Glimpse of the Show

I'm really excited about the reception tonight for the opening of the Waterloo Watercolor Show in Austin. As a foretaste, here is one of the paintings which you will see.

I call this one Rose Garden. I have painted roses as my main subject before but really had fun developing this background by painting around the shapes I wanted to create.

See you at the show!

Showing up for my Art

I have had 3 paintings accepted for the Waterloo Watercolor Group's 2010 fall show in Austin, Texas! I am thrilled to be able to participate in my first show. As you can see, you are invited! Join me for the reception this Thursday if you can. The show is up through the end of October, so go by and check it out. It is really a feast for the senses!

I've been painting a lot and learning alot. If you can't go to the show, or even if you can, stay posted and you will see some of what I have been doing with watercolors. Thanks to all who have given me feedback and encouragement to show up for my art!

Color it or tone it?!

Our last assignment in art class was to paint flowers with only 2 different pigments. We even had to pick our colors blindly. I got lucky and picked red and phthalo green.

Limiting myself to just these 2 colors was quite an experiment, forcing me to use the paints to their fullest. I varied the intensity by using full strength pigment down to barely any pigment diluted with water. And I mixed the red and green pigment in varying proportions to get as much color variation as I could. The range of tones amazed me, from the lightest light, to the darkest dark.

I have read that it matters less what colors you choose, than the variation and patterns of light and dark that you create in your painting. Simplifying this concept in one challenging exercise helped me understand it. Getting outside of my comfort zone always seems to result in learning something new!

Something new, something true

I'm pleased with myself for painting a building. It's pushing the limits for me, as I've not done one before. First I made a pattern sketch, just drawing the basics, alternating dark and light. Then I made a couple of underpaintings in light - mid range tones, one predominately cool colors and the other predominately warm colors. I made a skeletal version of my pattern sketch on see-through mat acetate paper and put it over each of the underpaintings so I could see what effect the color of the underpainting had on my sketch. I chose the underpainting with predominately warm colors and then transferred my sketch onto it. Painting it was fun and easy.

It is a building of significance for me, the sunporch and upstairs patio of my "sister's" home in Sweden. Having lived with her family 30+ years ago when I was an exchange student in high school, we reunited when my husband and I took a trip to Sweden 2 summers ago. It was wonderful to stay with her family in their home. The sunporch is a recent addition and much celebrated as a way to enjoy the warm summer sun after a cold winter.

Continuing to learn something new each time I paint makes it fun. And when I paint something of true significance to me, I can feel my creative juices, beckoning to catch the vibrancy I see in it.