Watercolor Abstracts????

      Abstracts are not my usual  subject  for watercolors.  I love florals, landscapes, nature, subjects that are recognizable and  grab my heart. But.... there is a different process that  is a challenge and a delight -   painting  intuitively.  It has been said:

Energy and motion made visible – memories arrested in space” ― Jackson Pollock

 “Art has a voice - let it speak.” ― Rochelle Carr

 Abstract art was the equivalent of poetic expression; I didn’t need to use words, but colors and lines. – Etel Adnan

 Teaching abstracts at Paint Party Salem NH was a great experience.   It is the titles that are the challenge. 

String Along

 Matters of the Heart

Fragmentary Blue

  In the Flow

Plein Air Lily painting reworked

 Painting plein air has it joys and pitfalls.  There is the joy of being outside, surrounded by glorious natural beauty, letting the sun, wind and sounds soak into your soul.  I fell into one of the pitfalls painting the lilies of the field.  One of overpainting.  The sun dries the paint quickly. The colors seem to fade in the bright sun, even when I 'm standing in the shadows to paint the subject in the sun. The danger is to keep painting past the time when I should have put my brushes down, resulting in a dull image.  

When I looked at the painting back home, I ran hot water in the sink and soaked the painting, lifting layers of overpainting.  While it was still soaking wet, I added a few touches of color here and there for accent and called it done!

I will try again the next time I'm out!

Hawaii Travel Journal Paintings

 In a four months time we had the opportunity to travel to both to Hawaii and Mexico with friends.  With my travel journal in tow, it was delightful to capture some of the beauty.

Hawaii - it was the off season, rained a lot, but I was astounded by the luscious trees and landscapes.  I especially wanted to see the rainbow eucalyptus, and was not disappointed. The rain made their colors even more vibrant.

Birds of a Feather!

It's been nearly a year since I've taught a watercolor class.  After painting my first bird, a cardinal, I decided to keep painting birds and offer a series of classes.  It has been a joy to paint winter birds and then watch my students have great success as well.

The seasons always inspire me - this time it showed up as birds in the snow!

"Baby it's cold outside!"                          "I really must go!"

Neighborhood "Wine and Watercolor"

After a successful evening, "Watercolor, Wine and Wonder," at the Lafayette Country Club with 42 women, the ladies in my neighborhood asked if I would host one with the ladies on our cul de sac.  Of course!

So, Saturday, June 9th, six women joined me for an evening of painting a lesson that I call "The enchanted forest."  My philosophy of teaching art is to encourage each student to create their own original piece, watching the demo, using the same colors and techniques, but creating their own unique painting.

It was an evening of fun, and each woman created her own unique "Enchanted Forest!"

My demo piece

 

My demo painting

Sun Kissed

Noticing how the sun gently kisses and illuminates whatever it touches, has become a real fascination for me.  So much so that I'm creating paintings and lesson plans for a series of watercolor classes in October.

Sunrises and sunsets are magical moments for catching glimpses of glory reflected.  A few weeks ago I got up before sun rise and headed out with my little Sony point and shoot camera to capture the sun's rays on Indiana corn fields. As I waited on a mound of dirt that elevated me above the tops of the corn, I positioned myself for those first rays with great anticipation.  I was rewarded with some wonderful photos for painting studies.

There was another early morning photo shoot in my little garden, as I watched the sun gently kiss and illuminate the zenias, the hostas, the morning glories and even my tomato plant leaves.

Of course, I have photos of sunsets on the Pacific and sunrises on the Atlantic from this summer - always dramatic.

From time to time I write haiku's to condense and express my thoughts about something.  As I was swimming my laps in the pool, I wrote a haiku that I forgot to write down when I got home.  But I did reconstruct another one.
                  Sun Kissed
Sun rise  sun set  glow
Gent ly kiss ing cre-a-tion
Re veal ing Glo ry.

So, here are some of the paintings I've enjoyed working on trying to capture the essence of the sun's kiss.

Sun Kissed Corn

Sun Kissed Corn 2

Glorious Web

Autumn Blaze

Salisbury Beach Sunrise

Salisbury Beach Sunrise #2 in progress  - trying to capture a bit more of the atmosphere I felt, not as dark as the first one, still in process

Painting Peonies

These beauties growing in my son's back yard begged to be painted.  I took several photos but when I was able to get back to paint them "plein air" they were too far gone.  So I pulled up one of the photos on my computer and painted them indoors.  They were so fun to paint!  They have found a new home with a friend who loves peonies and is a beauty herself!

Painting Abstracts

Learning and growing outside of the known to the unknown, is how I feel about painting abstract watercolors.  Recently I've been challenged by observing an art demo by a friend who paints abstracts to jump in and try,  I've also been following a 12 week journaling experience through the book The Artist's Rule,Nurturing Your Creative Soul Through Monastic Wisdom, author Christine Valters Painter. Chapter 7 has a visual art exploration about drawing your inner selves.

So I've been having fun playing with my watercolors in a totally different way.  I do think I'll continue to experiment and see where it takes me!

"Transformation" - my first abstract

Ocean Dreams - my 2nd abstract

"Stellar Earth" - my 3rd abstract

Tissue Textured Watercolors

16 x 20 painted tissue on wc paper - "Oberlin's Oak"

16 x 20 tissue texture on wc, "Winter Glory"

5 x 7 tissue texture on wc paper

5 x 7 rice paper texture on wc paper

Students have been wanting to have a class on painting tissue paper textured watercolors.  A class was planned as a "Super Bowl - Super Paint Out" for those wanting some escape from the Super Bowl hype. That class was snowed out and rescheduled.  Yesterday eight students came to play!

 The technique in a nutshell is this.  You can use either rice paper, or regular gift wrap tissue paper for this project.  You begin with a sheet of 140 pound watercolor paper, it can be a cheaper brand than normal.  Mix 1/2 elmer's glue and 1/2 water.  Brush this mixture on the paper.  Roll up a piece of tissue or rice paper, cut a couple of inches larger that the wc paper.  Roll it into a tight ball, very, very tight, to create the intricate wrinkles.  Open up the paper carefully so as not to tear and lay it gently down on the glued wc paper.  Gently pat from the middle to the sides.  You don't want to smooth out the wrinkles, but you don't want to have an puffy pillow air packs either.  I found it helpful to lay another piece of watercolor paper on top and press the whole surface with my hands.

When the tissue is flat, add another coat of the elmer's glue/water mix. Dry with a hair dryer if you are in a hurry.

Paint and see what lovely patterns the tree branches take as the paint follows the wrinkles and creases.

Although the rice paper is acid free, and I don't know about the tissue paper, I do prefer the tissue paper over the rice paper.  Rice paper tends to feather out quite a bit more, even with the glue treatment.  The tissue paper creates a wonderfully free surface that facilitates the branching out with a bit more control.

I do think I'll paint the four seasons with this textured style for the upcoming May exhibit I will have at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation.  So far, I've mainly painted fall and winter because the wrinkles create the wonder branches that you see when all the leaves are gone.

It's so fun to play!