Mini equipment

Today's post is a picture of the second painting I did at the lake. It's of one of the clumps of birch trees that are around the property with the lake in the background. To my dismay, I've painted so many Florida scenes that I have almost forgotten how to paint birch trees, one of my first watercolor lessons. I think I captured the look eventually, though. Along with the painting is the the tiny brush, Pocket Box and and Moleskine. Until I started painting the miniature paintings with gouache last summer, I never used a small brush except for an occasional detail. Just look at me now!

A Break at the Lake

We were invited to spend a few days with our friends at their lake cabin in northern Minnesota this week. I was looking forward to some fall color and I wasn't disappointed. The maple's reds, oranges and yellows were a lovely contrast to some of the trees that were still stubbornly green. It seems like the maples always go first. I sat on the pontoon boat and did a quick painting of the shoreline in the distance. I finally got to use my watercolor Moleskine that has pages that are 5 1/2" by 3 1/2". It's pretty small but the only brush I had was the one in Sketchers' Pocket Box with 12 half pans of paint in a little palette. I'm trying to see how "minimalist" I can get with my equipment. I'm not sure of the size of the brush but it's certainly no bigger than a #2. It's fun to see what can be done with a small book and palette.

A Rose Collage

I painted this Rose Collage in a workshop a couple of years ago. I remember that I really liked the technique but I haven't done much of it until the most recent workshop I did. The last workshop was with acrylics on canvas, but this was done with watercolors on paper. The other similarity was that it was in a square format. It's fun going over pictures of previous paintings and finding that you are building knowledge and techniques all along the way. Each workshop and class is really integrating with what you already know even if you aren't consciously thinking of it. Workshops have a way of making me go beyond what I would do on my own, there is an almost electric, creative atmosphere when you are with a group of other artists.

Birthday Bouquet

I love to paint original birthday cards for close friends. Sometimes there just isn't time to get it done and get it in the mail on time. On those times I have to settle for a print of a painting. That seems to work OK, too. People are happy to receive a "real card" in their mailbox instead of an e mail card. So this one was done earlier this summer of some flowers I had from the farmers' market. It got painted on time but also copied so that I can use the bouquet again and again. I like to tell friends and family members that I am glad they were born. Whenever your birthday, I hope it is a happy one.

Pomme and Wine with Chocolate

I'm continuing my backwards journey through the workshop and I'm now ready to post pictures of the little warm-ups that were started the first day. I was very unsatisfied with that first days work so, on the second day I painted over and put collage on them. They are only 6X6 inches. I still used the same technique of allowing the under painting to come through by using a thin glaze and dabbing it with tissue while it was still wet. Perhaps if I had played with it a bit more I would have glazed again over some of the collage but I think I will leave it alone for now and do that the next time.

I Love Paris

The second day of last week's workshop the assignment was to plan something with words in the painting. I had a paper with the Eiffel Tower on it that I thought I would like to incorporate into my painting so I decided that my word would be Paris. The first step was to choose an abstract design for the "bones" of the painting. Once the design was chosen and painted, making interesting textures and layers in the paint along the way; we could then place our collage pieces into our painting. Finally, the letters were stenciled and the painting embellished with a little gold paint. After a week of looking at the painting I've decided that it doesn't need another thing. What do you think?

Orchids in acrylic

I took an acrylic workshop with an artist friend of mine, Karen Knutson. I don't ususally do paintings in acrylic but I thought it would be fun to learn something new. I'm always up for a challenge. The most frustrating thing for me was mixing the colors to get the color I wanted. Usually I ended up with a big pile of too much paint, but that should improve with practice. It was quite a process of building up successive layers of colors and removing by using water of alcohol to reveal the color underneath. There were also layers of collage to add interest and texture. I'm posting my last painting first because it is the most completed. I hope to have time in the coming week to finish my other attempts.

Osprey Nest

This osprey nest has been on this pole for many years. It seems like the osprey nest is always active. It's situated on Matlacha in the public park near the Pine Island Art League building. Since Matlacha is an island, it is an ideal place for osprey; surrounded by water, the birds have an abundant supply of fish. Osprey are also known as "fish hawks". They are wonderful flyers, fishers and nest builders. Every year they add more sticks to their nests. I wonder if it's a bird version of "keeping up with the Jones".

The Fishingest Bridge

This bridge in Matlacha Florida is called by locals "The fishingest bridge". On many days you can see the whole bridge lined by people fishing, depending on what's in season. It's a draw bridge, as you can see by the picture, it is open allowing a sailboat to go through the pass. The bridge also services a very busy road and the traffic backs up until the bridge is closed again. This gave me an opportunity to hop out of my car and shoot a picture so that I could paint it. The building with the red roof is a motel that is built out over the water so that the guests can walk out of their doors and fish anytime they want to. Matlacha (Mat-la-SHAY) is a unique little place that mixes fishing with art galleries.

Something New

I found a new product to try while looking around my local art store. They are like watercolor pencils but when you wet them and they dry, they are permanent. They are called Inktense by Derwent. You can work over them and add to them and the color underneath will not move. I did my intitial drawing with them and when the first layer dried I went in with watercolor to get the depth of dark that I wanted in the wave and water areas. I think I'm going to enjoy doing watercolor sketches with them; so far I have a tin of 12, enough to have some fun for now.

The Pits

There was an old book title that read, "If Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries, Why Am I In the Pits?" I thought I'd finish my Cherries and Spoon series with the pits. I did, at last, succumb to their delicious juiciness and ate them. I often wonder how the old master painters could stand there and paint the obviously delectable food in their still life paintings, and not eat their subject. They didn't have the advantage of taking a digital photo as we do so that we can use the reference well beyond the "expiration date".

Another Cherries and Spoon

I'm really enjoying my cherries and spoon paintings. Cherries, especially the Rainer variety, are fun to paint with their yellow and red coloring. I enjoy the reflections of light on the spoon, too. My daughter who now lives on the West Coast in Oregon says that the cherries are available around the country because there was a bumper crop this year. Yea for bumper crops!

Rainier Cherries with a Spoon

We have been blessed with Rainier Cherries at our local supermarket. They seem to have a much shorter season than the usual red cherries. Their sweetness is legendary and I long thought that growers in Washington State kept them to themselves, along with the peaches, apricots and marion berries. Perhaps more are being harvested these days. Whatever the reason for them showing up in Minnesota, I had to attempt to paint those two tone little orbs before eating them. Next I'll be on the lookout for some other fruits from Washington State.

Deck Flowers

It's been cool and windy in Minnesota lately. We could use a little warming, global or otherwise. Some friends and I tried to do our artwork out on the deck, it was sort of sheltered and just enough sun to keep us from heading indoors. I had a good sighting of a colorbowl of flowers and added a few pieces of pottery for a nice little still life. I wanted to do the cat but he was unwilling to join us. I decided a little ink caligraphy would add some pizzaz.

A Man Seated

The Different Strokes picture this time is a man seated on a folding chair. Nothing too interesting about that, or his surroundings. Sometimes I think the challenge is to make an interesting painting out of something ordinary. Maybe I think too much! Anyway, I did the exercise and decided that the painting was crying out for some red so I made the ordinary brown chair red. It works for me! You can check out how other artists painted the same picture at http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot/

Last Night in France

It seems that the latest memories are the most vivid. We had a morning flight out of France so we were in position near the airport on our last night. As usual the trains were scheduled to go on strike the day we were to leave. Being near the airport is the smart thing to do even if one desires a last night in Paris. Luckily, we had a west facing window in our hotel room or I would have missed a spectacular sunset. It was one of those sunsets that lasts and lasts and the colors just get better and better. Long after the sun had gone down there was still an orange glow on the horizon. The sun peeked in and out of low clouds and at last came out from behind the conical steeple before decending behind the horizon. My painting doesn't do the scene justice but I enjoyed reliving the breathtaking sight.

Painting at Sea

Another little painting that I did when the seas weren't too rough. A melon slice and a lemon. My inspiration was from another blogger, now I can't find the painting and give credit because it was several weeks ago. Thank you, friend. Rather than copy her painting I did it from memory because I thought it looked so fun to do.

I'm getting my brushes wet again, after a long period of dryness, at least for me. A friend challenged me to just paint for a certain length of time, 1 hour or 2 hours, and then just stop for the day. Even more challenging, do a completed watercolor in that length of time. Not so easy if you paint wet on wet, the drying time is too long. So, small and quick it is!

View From the Ship's Balcony

This little painting was my view from the balcony of the QM2 on one of the brighter days at sea.

Our trip across the Atlantic reminded me of the old silly Navy song; "I joined the Navy to see the world and what did I see? I saw the sea!" We had a nice balcony stateroom but there wasn't much to look at. There was a report of a whale sighting and dolphins but not when I was looking. Truth be told, the whale sighting wasn't more that seeing the spout way off on the horizon. Most of the weather was also gray and rather stormy so it was hard to paint with the constant motion of the ship even though it had modern stabilizers. This is not to say it wasn't a pleasant way to cross the ocean, it was; they even had a watercolor class (which I didn't take advantage of). There were many lovely things about it, I just had a hard time getting into the zone for painting.

At sea

Believe it or not, I'm writing this at sea. We are crossing the Atlantic to England on the QM2. I won't be able to post my usual watercolor blogs until we return in early July. I hope to have lots to little paintings to share then.

Pam's Peonies

My gardening friend, Pam, graciously picked some of her peonies for me a few days ago. I have been working on a painting of them ever since. I have a vase that is made to look like birch bark that I love to use, it's shaped like a big piece of birch bark that has been curled around and fastened together. This was a bigger painting project than I thought it would be. Interspersed with the peonies were daisies, just to add some interest. I was challenged all around with the white daisies and peonies, it was quite a lesson. I think painting from a live subject is so much more challenging than from a photo but it is worth the doing.

Spring Flowers; Peonies

I've been trying to paint the peonies that I saw this week. They were the single petal type and remind me of poppies. The first ones I painted are tight and hard edged, which was OK but I long for a looser style. Nothing gets me painting loose like Yupo, so I threw some paint on some Yupo and think the first results are quite fun. I may play around with it some more and if I do, I'll be posting any additions that I make.

A Different Strokes Challenge

I'm just getting into painting again since the "transition". I wanted to enter the Different Strokes Challenge and today was the final day to submit an entry. I had to get my brushes going fast. Sometimes if you don't sweat it too much things work out better. That was the case today. I had a picture of a bull that I always wanted to paint but didn't know about what background would be interesting. The Challenge provided me with a perfect background for my black bull. Is he an Angus? I don't know, he was all by himself on a ranch in Wyoming, and he wasn't too happy about it. He stopped complaining long enough for me to take the picture. I think the farm picture is Pennsylvania, maybe he'll be happier there.

Transitions

This is a drizzle rooster I did awhile back. You drizzle a glossy acrylic outline and when it's dry you can wet the paper and add the color. It's a fun process, especially with chickens.


We've been in transition the last couple of weeks. We pack up and leave Florida's hot and steamy weather for something more moderate in Minnesota. People call it the theater of weather. You can get it all in just to span of a few hours. Some years a summer in Minnesota can be as hot and humid as one in Florida, but that is unusual. I hoped I could paint something during the down time of traveling but it just didn't happen. Now that we are settled in, groceries bought, bags unpacked, laundry done, I can get some organization going in my painting area and get back to blogging.

Brush experiment

I had to sit and mind the gift shop at our local art league (http://www.capecoralartleague.org/ )and to pass the time I decided to try the brushes I bought several years ago that have water in the handle of the brush by Aquaflow. I thought they might be handy for painting in confined places where you might not want to have a cup of water. It was frustrating in the beginning because I'm so used to rinsing my brush frequently in water; with this brush you have to squeeze it to flush whatever pigment you are using out of it before going on to another. It's nessesary to have something absorbent handy to catch the drips and to wipe the brush; papertowel or sponge work well. I painted on a postcard sized piece of w/c paper trying to keep in mind a confined space. It's no masterpiece but it gave me some insight into painting with these interesting brushes. The Aquaflows have a valve in them that keep the pigment from being sucked into the water in the handle which was a problem with another brush that I had. I'm thinking that I might even be able to do quick sketches while riding in the car on long trips.

The Humble Onion

I had a little painting session with some friends today. While they chose to do landscape paintings of the area, I chose the humble onion, three of them. My friend's husband is a wonderful gardener and here in South Florida this is the harvest season while the rest of the country seems to be just thinking of planting things. He had an abundance of onions, and they are an interesting subject with their dried tops and papery skins.

New York Street Scene

What a fun painting Karen Jurick had for us to paint this dsdf session. The canyon of New York City with their colorful, ubiquitous taxi cabs. I had one more strip of yupo, so I had to paint it on that. I love the result of the wavy edges and the way one color oozes into another. It's a small painting, only 15 x 3.5 inches, so I could only do a sliver of the whole picture which you can view at http://www.differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/ You can also see all the other fabulous painters' renditions of the same picture. It's really fun to see the creativity that takes place on that blog.

Watery Sunset

I think I've finally come to the end of my long, narrow yupo paintings. It's time to move on to something new. But I have one more to post. It's 26"X5", so it looks small on the uploaded picture because of it's length. I like the way the sun puddled into the water on this one. Sometimes the sunsets do have the feeling that the sun is just dipping down into the water and you don't know if the sun will overcome the water or the water the sun; and then, it just disappears. Perhaps I should do one more painting with a "green flash".

More Art In Bloom

I think I need more photography classes. For some reason my camera was very confused taking pictures at the museum. So many of my photos were blurry. It seems that my camera didn't know where to focus even though I tried my best to direct it. But this painting of the boats lined up on the shore and the flower arrangement lined up in little boat shaped vases was really nice. Another favorite.

Art In Bloom

While we were in Minnesota we took advantage of an annual exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) called Art In Bloom. Floral arrangements are made to resemble different works of art. My favorite was done of a painting of a steamboat. I love the baby's breath in the smoke stacks.

Yellow Daffodil

I've been in Minnesota for the week end and have once more experienced the variety of weather they call spring up north. We had rain, wind, cold temperatures, sun, fair skies; in other words, the whole enchilada! We went to the Minnesota Arboretum in Chanhassen to see spring in all it's glory. We saw daffodils, tulips, magnolias, crocus', all shapes and sizes of trees leaves, from small buds to several inches. It was glorious and many pictures were taken.

I just had to paint a daffodil and then I came up against the problem of painting yellow flowers; what do you use for shadow color? I used a purple which I knew would turn to brown on the yellow, but blue would turn green and red would turn orange, etc. I'm not totally satisfied with the outcome but if anyone who paints in watercolor has a solution I'd love to hear about it.

Sunset, Sea and Sky

This one is a small one, 14.5 x 3.5 inches. It was painted on Yupo. One reason I like Yupo is that the pigment stays on the surface and dries there; doing so it remains vibrant. On ordinary watercolor paper a lot of the pigment is absorbed and it dries at least 20% lighter. If you don't go strong with the color the first time you have to glazed more color onto it.

A Sunset Turns Into A Flower

In my last post I said that the pigment on wet Yupo would continue to move as it dries. I was going for another Sky, Sea, Sand painting with a sunset and discovered that the Quinacridone Red that I used actually pushed the blue almost off the paper. Then I added a Quinacridone Gold and it really pushed. I was left with this big blob of mostly pink in my sky that didn't look remotely like a sunset. But it did look a little like a Lotus blossom. So, with some editing after it was dry I refined the flower and I think it's quite nice. I added some yellow to the now dry blue in puddles to resemble the flat leaves floating on the water.

Sand, Sea, Sky Series

I'm back after some break time on the beach in Sarasota, actually, Siesta Key. The sand there is the most amazing sand you've ever seen. They say it is almost all quartz that has been ground down into fine sugar consistancy by the water and wind. It is almost as white as sugar as well.

I was inspired to do some paintings on Yupo of just the sand, sea and sky. My sand needed some color to it, though. I have one of this kind of painting over my kitchen sink and people never fail to comment on how much they like it. Maybe it's the simplicity or the memories of time on the beach. Whatever it is, I enjoy the way I can get a really watery look on the yupo paper. I wet it first and then brush in my pigment and keep manipulating it until it looks like what I want. It must then dry completely before I can move it and the exciting thing is that the pigments will continue to move until it is dry. If you are a control freak do not try this. After it is dry I can come in with a wet brush and edit if I wish but once I change it there is no going back to the original.

Diana's Companion

This is the new challenge from Different Strokes From Different Folks Blog. It's a photo of a statue of Diana's companion, from Greek mythology, not British royalty. Someone must have modeled for the sculptor before he sculpted, don't you think? So, I'm imagining the subject before she was cast forever into stone. I put her in flesh and as I was painting the dress (?) I thought, "Hmm, and I complain about bra straps." I had a devil of a time with the legs, the knees especially but I think I have them in the right place, now. It's funny how the mistakes I had made really showed up in the photo and I had to fix it and take new photos. I didn't think I would like this subject but I really got into it and enjoyed the process. That's what I like about DSFDF, you paint things you may not even consider painting otherwise. To see the original photo go to http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

Date with a Grape

Every year I am asked along with my pastel painting husband, to donate a piece of art to the American Heart Society Ball. They have a silent auction for many items as a fund raiser. This year I've decided to donate this painting, A Date With a Grape. I think it would go well in a wine bar, wine store, kitchen or dining room. Some of the vines on the bottom were made by blowing on the wet paint with a drinking straw. You have to be careful not to blow so hard that you get dizzy. Grapes are fun to paint with their lovely orb shapes and shadows. I hope my painting gets a good bid and raises some money for the Heart Fund.

Purple Orchid

My friend who was visiting from Minnesota bought me an orchid plant one day. I have wanted to paint it so I took it to class last week and worked on this painting. I don't know why I get so tight; I guess I'm concentrating on the shapes and colors and forget to render it in a more watercolor fashion. Perhaps I will take it to class again tomorrow and have a "do-over". This is one of the times in life when a "do-over" is possible, unlike so many other times when we wish we could have a "do-over" but we can't.

Betty

I've put it off long enough. I have done all I'm going to do to the portrait of my friend Cathi's mom. This is from a totally candid photo taken of her a year or so ago. I liked the knowing look she is giving, like she has seen it all. I'm not sure if the portrait is finished, I just know that, for now anyway, I'm not going to do anymore on it. Maybe some day in the future I'll pick it up and decide that more needs to be done and I'll know what it is. Sometimes paintings are like that aren't they?

Beach Girl

I painted this to post on differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com . The original photo had more people in it, but I elected to paint just the girl. In my mind she is looking wistfully out on the ocean, perhaps just a little timid about getting into the water that looks so inviting. The smooth beach reminds me of Daytona Beach in FL. The reflections there are always great and I love taking pictures of people on the beach there. I would like to know where Karen Jurick got this shot, somewhere along the Atlantic perhaps. It's just a reminder for all you northern folks that summer is just around the corner.

Whimsical Piggy

OK, it's Sunday, time for something whimsical. Several week ends ago, when I was painting at the Gallery, I found a picture of a pig in the newspaper. I thought it was a cute pig as pigs go. So how could I not paint him? Or maybe it was a she. Who knows? Anyway, today I added the fuzzy hairs that were backlit on the photo which was in black and white. I love that because then I can paint my piggy any color I want, so permanent rose (pink) and colbalt blue were the colors of choice with a nice orangy-gold background. Perhaps I should name him Porkchop, (groan).

I hope you have had a restful if not whimsical week end.

A workshop challenge

I had a challenging workshop for four days last week. I think I'm still recovering. I prefer to paint loose and wet, this workshop was just the opposite. I know, I know, why would I do that to myself? I guess I thought it would be good for me to learn something that I wouldn't normally try. It was a portrait workshop. I think I did OK on the projects that we had to paint; it was certainly a steep learning curve for me. I'm posting my attempts if the two portraits that were done by everyone in the workshop. The young girl was done the second day (her face got sort of orange), the old woman the third day of the workshop. The fourth day we painted a picture of our own; I may post that later, we'll see how it turns out.

Painting Pat

I had another day of painting on the dock at WildChild Gallery on Saturday. It was warm and breezy, a delightful day for painting. There were a lot of people out and about enjoying the ambiance of the island and the galleries. I'm reposting the painting of Pat because I found that I had tweaked it a bit. It was painted on Yupo, a slick, plastic painting surface which is not paper. I think I've written about Yupo before but the fun thing about Yupo is that if you don't like something you have painted on it, it is easily wetted and wiped off. On the other hand, you can't build up layers because anything underneath will be removed with the wet brush. Pat and I have Yupo that has been painted on many times, since the old paint can be removed; scrubbed off completely in a sink if you wish. If you want to keep a painting it can be sprayed with a fixative and framed under glass. Pat was sitting next to carved wood pelicans and a yellow cat sculpture.

My Week End

As part of being in the WildChild Gallery on Matlacha (mat-la-shay) FL, artists are asked (required) to demonstrate their painting, potting, basket weaving or whatever their medium at least two week ends a season. This is my week end. I couldn't have a lovelier place to sit and paint for two days. This is what my set up look like before I started painting for the day. I'm sitting on a dock on a canal that leads to Pine Island Bay. It is under a tent so we are sheltered from the sun but we can feel the breeze and enjoy the great view. A good friend and fellow w/c artist, Pat also happened to be on the deck with me and we had a grand time painting on yupo paper. It's an ideal surface to paint on when you have to work on something all day but still be able to chat with the people who come by to observe. It's easily corrected and if you don't like something you can wash it off and do it over. The little picture in the right hand corner is my painting of Pat painting. I think I tweaked it some after I took the picture so look for a better picture on my next blog.

Chess In the Park

Sometimes a painting started with a background and no preconceived idea is a good way to jump start creativity. I started this little painting on a quarter sized sheet of 140 # watercolor paper just as a warm up activity using colors wet on wet with "stuff" laid on it to create texture. When it was damp I did a little stamping and stenciling with checkerboard shapes. When it was it dry and removed the stuff it seemed to say "chess" to me. So I researched some shapes for chess pieces; with those in place I needed something as a center of interest and then I thought of all the scenes of men playing chess in the parks around Europe. This one with the light of a late afternoon sun seemed perfect for the colors in my painting and the tree shape that was made by the stuff that I laid on the wet paint.