MORE OF THE PAST

Commissions often require boundaries that can stifle creativity. . . boundaries like 'matching the couch' or looking 'exactly' like the photograph. Commissions can also put limits in my head, like 'they won't like that color' or 'this is too intense for their taste.'

Commissions can make it tough for me to actually want to paint, especially when it's of a subject that I'm not really interested in. Plus, my focus can easily shift from creating to selling the creation. That shift kills all creativity in me.

When I used to seek commissions, I always thought they were like having a baby. The idea for the commissioned painting had to grow inside me until I really WANTED to paint it. Otherwise, I was just going through the motions of moving the paint with a brush, and that lack of involvement would always show in the finished painting.

This painting had to match a bedspread. Other than that, I was given free reign as long as it was floral. It was fun to paint, but the whole time a little voice in the back of my head kept reminding me that SHE had to like it. Terrifying!

She did like it. Whew. It's so freeing to paint what I want to paint, a luxury for sure. Commissions still tempt me at times, but the only ones I'll do are the ones I'd have to paint anyway.

"DORIE'S DELS" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 21 x 30" COLLECTED

LANDSCAPING

When I started painting in watercolor, we owned a landscaping business, so naturally painting plants became a high interest of mine. These delphiniums were one of my first commissions, from one of our landscape customers.

Dorie said that as a landscape designer, I had "painted" her yard on the outside with real trees, flowers and shrubs, and now she wanted to hire me to add flowers to walls on the inside of her house. I was intimidated but loved the challenge, too.

My next post will be the other painting completed for her home, which was again, delphiniums, but with a different feel. I rarely take on commissions anymore but enjoyed doing these for Dorie. She also seemed genuinely pleased with them.

"DORIE'S GARDEN" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 17 x 30" COLLECTED

W-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-Y BACK

This blog began as a record for my family, specifically our grandkids, of the awesome art journey I've traveled. It's become a teaching tool, a means to share and receive input from others, and a special way to 'meet' very special people.

This painting was the very first watercolor that I did by myself, no teacher. And it's on a full sheet of Arches. My first teacher, Suzanne Mayes Wentzell, taught our aspiring group of beginners each Wednesday evening for three hours. Those three hours became the highlight of each week for me, and I did everything I could to not miss class, no matter how tired I was after work, etc.

I remember edging those petunias with Sepia to accent them. The flowers were a combination of Rose Madder Genuine and Alizaron Crimson, both by Winsor Newton. Later I learned the hard way that those two colors would fade to a dirty pink. Both colors were eventually pitched even though I dearly loved them.

When I took this painting into class to show Suzanne, I was SO PROUD and happy with how well I thought it turned out. She was kind and not brutal with her critique, and her encouragement was a positive force in my early watercolor days. It's not in my nature to paint high key like this painting, but back then I was pleased as can be with the soft approach.

That was twenty one years ago. That passion that was ignited in me for watercolor has never left, and I am continually amazed at how many possibilities there are in this wonderful art world. Now I enjoy exploring any and all water media on any surface that will hold paint. What an adventure!

UPDATE - great news. Visited the doctor's office last Friday, 18 days after my knee replacement - I was given the go ahead to drive, swim, dance, work, stop medicines, and even stop physical therapy. I'm doing good, no - GREAT!

I'm going up and down steps like a champ, not like a crippled grandma. My surgeon was tops, and I truly would rather go through this surgery again than have a bad cold! Blessings abound beyond anything I could've hoped for. Thank you for your concern, your caring. I so appreciate it.

'91

In 1991, a little over two years after signing up for beginning watercolor classes, I took a workshop near our hometown with Catherine Wilson Smith, from the Chicago area. The first day, she strongly emphasized the importance of value studies. . .

For all three days of the workshop, I muddled my way though understanding what a value study was, how to make them, and most importantly, how to make them be effective. It's the only workshop I've ever been in where I didn't paint at all.

It was worth the effort that long weekend to begin a journey of understanding composition better. Although I'd earned a degree in Art Education years earlier, I realized that there was a vast world of art design to digest.

This picture (study) was painted soon after the workshop, based directly on one of the value studies I'd slaved over in Catherine's workshop. Just yesterday I discovered a stash of photos of some really early watercolors, so 'look out!' They'll be posted very soon. This was one of them.

"DIANTHUS AND DELPHINIUM" Transparent Watercolor on 140# CP Arches, 10 x 14" COLLECTED

VISITORS

Getting to paint with friends is such a treat, but this week I realized that rest had to come first. It's not been three weeks since surgery, and my body gets tired way faster than I expect.

These little birds visit my feeder constantly and never seem to tire. This painting is on my favorite surface to paint on - YUPO! There's some charcoal dust tossed onto a spritzed area and some pencil work, but mostly, it's transparent watercolor. There is a lot of untouched white in the background, but it shows here with a bluish tint. YUPO can be tricky to photograph accurately, but you get the idea.

It's so much fun (and so intimidating) to explore and find my way when trying new methods for approaching a painting. It's all so worth it. Happy painting.

"VISITORS" Transparent Watercolor with Charcoal and Graphite on YUPO 18 x 15"

YUPO REVISED

Last week after washing off most of the paint from the YUPO surface of an old unfinished painting, I started a detailed painting of a Red Tailed Hawk that I'd taken pictures of over ten years ago. The background textures became part of the new painting. It needs to be cropped in more to balance the hawk and make him seem more powerful. What do you think?

Today Rhonda and Kathy were here painting, and we took a lunch break to go to Willie's. Upon our return, the keypad on the garage door wouldn't work. Aha! I remembered that Marianne had alerted me earlier that our power would be going off for a short time while they changed our electrical lines. Now we couldn't get back into the studio...

But wait, I'd left some windows up. Maybe Rhonda could crawl in a window if the screen could be removed.

I stayed safely on the deck outside the studio while Kathy and Rhonda devised their plan. Let me tell you, Rhonda's very good at breaking and entering. The fact that she's lost 15 pounds helped her slip effortlessly through the window. At the precise moment that she stepped into the studio, the lights came back on. We were happily painting five minutes later.

You can see this detail of the head of the hawk as he watches Rhonda and Kathy break into the studio.

"LOOKOUT" Transparent Watercolor, Graphite, and Conte Crayons on YUPO 14 x 20"

CARDS

Delphiniums must surely be one of the most exquisite flowers that God ever made. (I figure He created orchids after the delphiniums.) June made my day last week by sending a bouquet with many varieties of flowers, and this sprig will go back to her as a thank you.

It's painted on an Indian type paper that traveler Leslie shared with Tuesday's class. It was very nice to paint on, and lifting some of the dried edges of paint was really easy. That surprised me because it didn't feel like there was much sizing in the paper.

Saturday was a wonderful, if cool, paint-outside-on-the-porch day for me. GLORIOUS - the birds, a few bugs, chipmunks and squirrels, lots of flowers and hummers, and of course, me, sitting on my swing with nothing pressing to do at all, holding a paint brush or camera or coffee mug. Wish you could have joined me for a while.

Getting this card to the mail box tomorrow will be easy enough, but traipsing back down the hill of the driveway can be a little tricky yet. Looking forward to another great week of painting with friends, as well as some more advanced physical therapy. Life is absolutely grand!

YUPO OLDIE

This is one of my much earlier YUPO paintings. In a couple of weeks, I'll be teaching a weekend workshop with YUPO, sharing many diverse techniques and processes that can be used when painting on this slick and wonderful surface.

The workshop's focus is on experimentation and discovery, and we'll be delving into lots of different mediums while we create one of a kind works of art. I'm really looking forward to having the studio full of artists brimming with their wonderful creative energies. We will have a great time, I know.

"DEEP BLUE SEA" Transparent Watercolor on YUPO, 13 x 13" COLLECTED

TWO!!!

One of my painting buddies has a soon-to-be 2 year old grand daughter who is just adorable. When she showed me a recent picture yesterday, I started drawing this precious little doll. After the drawing was done on an old piece of previously painted YUPO, I blushed watercolor over parts of the graphite sketch, adding color to the skin tones and features.

The likeness is close but not right on target. It was a great way to spend time with friends, for sure. I'm looking forward to hearing what Sarah thinks of her little portrait.

FRIENDS

Recovery from surgery has been wonderfully easy, in part because of good friends who are willing to take the time to come visit me - and stay and paint for several hours:-D Sunday, Marianne and I painted until dark, and this is the 'thank you card' I painted for her. She'd sent fresh flowers on Friday (am I getting spoiled?) and this is just a part of the bouquet. There are yellow daisies, white delphinium, honey dew/melon colored gladiolus, along with spectacular sunflowers. Had to be painted.

Yesterday Linda and I painted together again - and she is really spoiling me (and I love it.) She'll be here soon along with Valerie and Jude. It should be a great day.

Mary Jane and Carol will be here tomorrow, and on Friday, Ritzie's coming over. Next Monday, Rhonda and I get to do a small road trip and also spend at least a couple of hours experimenting with new painting ideas. We may go wild, so look out!

Art certainly opens doors to friendships that would not occur otherwise. And those friendships are helping me get better really fast. Went up and down the steps a couple of times yesterday - NO PAIN! What a joy.

THANK YOU to all the people who have been so kind to send cards. You are a treasure to me. Thank you, friends, for caring and sharing life.

Now, I have to go pull on my super tight, fashionably white support stockings. Ugh!

PAINTING AND ROSES

Today was a great day to paint ... and see the nurse and physical therapist, too. Painting with a good friend was the BEST part though.

These roses are on a card on their way to thank Brenda for such GORGEOUS roses. This was just one sprig in the florific bouquet that added both beauty and fragrance to our house. More cards to paint this weekeend... and I loved holding that brush in my hand. Now off to bed. Everyone have a glorious weekend!

MOTIVATION TO MOVE

Home! It's good to be home, but the hospital stay went very well..... except for the bed pan part.

Since my room had no paintings, I felt obligated to provide a little visual enhancement of the area yesterday afternoon - notice the toes with the lovely foot stocking wrap.

Bed pans have one very good purpose - to prompt patients to get out of bed in order to use the toilet. I'm a slow learner, but after the third bed pan, I decided that getting out of bed, no matter how much pain was involved, was the best way to go.

Today I walked the halls a couple of times, put my full weight on my new knee, and bent that precious knee to a 90 degree angle. Without that bed pan motivation, I might still be laying there.

The doctor did an excellent job, and I feel very blessed to be in such good shape only 56 hours after surgery. Time to paint! And maybe it's time to sell Jewish Hospital some paintings for their walls, too. If only I were motivated to market my stuff.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. MUCH appreciated.

STORYTELLING

A couple of years ago, someone reported that when the judges gathered to select the final paintings for the annual American Watercolor Society Show, they determined not to include narrative work in the show. (Narrative work would be a painting that tells a story?) When the results were in, a painting that was totally narrative won the competition... just shows that it's hard to turn away from a really good story.

Joe Boyd is a master storyteller. He can paint pictures in your mind by weaving words together with both humor and impact. For the next three weeks, Joe will be weaving together a story he wrote and is now producing as a movie --- check it out here or here. He undoubtedly ranks up there with my dad as one of my favorite storytellers, and our four grand kids even got the chance a couple of weeks ago to hear a couple of his stories.

This 'sketch' of Joe, done while he was spinning another story or two last Sunday, is what I like to do when I listen. Maybe it's that I listen better if I'm drawing or doodling, so I'm seldom without a pencil, or in this case, a felt tip pen.

Artists' sketchbooks ALWAYS impress me, partially because of the diligence and discipline that the artists have who make them. My sketch books are many - and none are ever worth showing to anyone. They have notes, scribbles, thoughts that make almost no sense, drawings that are half done, blind contour drawings that are funny, phone numbers, websites, lists, as well as many sketches of eyeballs, lips, chairs, ears, feet, shoes, noses, and hands, etc. But not one of my sketch books looks like the beautiful works of art that I see others do.

When I was sketching Joe last Sunday, I realized my sketchbook is whatever I have in front of me to draw on. I'll never have a pristine, exquisite sketchbook, not ever. I toss most of my drawings because they were done for a moment, for a reason that's long past. But I liked this one of Joe. It reminds me of his stories and the impact they've had on my life.

The moment is what it's about when I'm sketching, the moment of being lost in that line, that shape, that texture, that detail. Just in case I feel like drawing, there'll be a small sketch book and pencil packed with me when Honey drives me to the hospital tomorrow morning for knee surgery. Maybe sitting in a hospital bed for a couple of days doped up on a lot of pain medication will result in some great drawings!

I'm thinking that everything will go well in surgery and hoping everything goes super for Joe and his cast of actors. By the way, I think he plays an Amish gambler in the movie. Go figure???

2 OLDIES TODAY

It's a weird and kind of cool thing to finally be old enough to collect social security. Today is my 62nd birthday - yeah!!! Got to get a new driver's license pix too. Lovely:-(

This morning my two granddaughters iced the cake they made with Grandpa last night and even put sprinkles on it. Not too much icing was on the floor when they were done, either. The cake is just beautiful, a work of art for sure.

Yesterday Tuesday morning's class completely surprised me with a huge party, complete with a delicious luncheon and cake and candles. We're doing it up right this year for sure.

This old painting of a very old John Deere tractor is one of the oldest I could find to help commemorate this dubiously historic day. It was one of the earlier 'tape' paintings that I tried, probably done in 1997 or so.

Every shape was developed by placing masking tape where I didn't want more paint. Each layer of paint dried before adding more masking tape. It's like batik in the way it looks with the paint oozing under the edges of the torn tape. The tape, used instead of wax to preserve and develop the shapes in the painting, is removed when the darkest values are painted. The textures that can be created this way are exciting.

Taping is time consuming - more so than wax batik - and yet the results are worth it. Next week I get a brand new right knee since my old sixty two year old one is in bad shape, so taping may be the process I choose to paint with during recovery. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to that first social security check!

THE EYES HAVE IT!

"What's your favorite flower?" Brenda asked this week in class. Though I never answered her, I might have said that a rose is my favorite, or a daffodil or an exquisite Hawaiian orchid or wisteria or, actually, anything in bloom.

Bwc (before watercolor) my passion was gardening, and I went all out, planting and caring for hundreds of perennials in our yard, along with a delicious assortment of unique dwarf conifers and shrubs. My favorites then were the tiny rock garden plants that just peeked up from under a boulder.

This rose painting was just a demo for a class back in the 90's, to help the artists see how to paint better. Undoubtedly, the most important thing we can use for painting is our eyes.

It's not that perfect color or a special magical brush or a unique technique or even a good teacher. It's our eyes.

SEEING, not just looking, but really observing, is what makes artists be able to interpret and convey what they experience. Toss in some good composition and design, along with accomplished technique, add to that a lifetime of experiences and emotions that are unique to each artist, and art that no one else has ever done can be created. SO much fun!

VACATION

Several years ago, three other watercolorists and I spent a week right on the ocean in Maine. Barb had rented a wonderful old cottage for us to enjoy near a very picturesque fishing village. The deck of the cottage was about 12 feet from the edge of the ocean, and we were in a wonderfully secluded cove. Paradise!

This was the view from where I sat painting each day. Watching the tide come in and go out, watching the continuous display of beautiful skies and sunrises, as well as seeing another part of the world never fails to inspire me to paint. The rocks or boulders were worn from eons of waves hitting them, and they were still enormous.

All my life people have told me to paint what I feel, express myself, say what I want to say. Great... except I never had ANY idea what I wanted to say. If I knew, I would've said it out loud.

In Maine that summer, I finally realized that painting lets me express what I want to say in the very best way that I can express it. Painting is my voice to help me know what I'm feeling and experiencing, and often, it's while I'm painting that I get in touch with feelings that I had no idea were there.

Anyone else like that? You have no idea what you want to convey or express until you've got it down with paint on paper. Then maybe you finally know what it was you wanted to 'say.' Probably if I knew ahead of time, I would just say it out loud and not paint it.

"VACATION" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 11 x 7" COLLECTED

SUMMER

It seems like I haven't painted for forever and haven't posted for over a week either, so here's a REALLY old painting done in the late '90's. The up close study shows the textures of the old wooden sign.

Back then, I'd never use black and still seldom do. The blacks here are just dark colors in separate puddles from my palette, then allowed to mix on the paper. I think I used Ultramarine Turquoise (a mixture of phthalo green and French Ultramarine,) Quinacridone Violet, Indanthrone, and Quinacridone Burnt Orange. All were from Daniel Smith Company in Seattle, WA.

I love the depth of color and richness that happens when darks are created this way, plus both a warm black and a cool black can easily be made depending on how much of each color is used.

Miskit was applied VERY carefully to protect the edges of the white feathers and the rope. I use an 00 rigger brush dedicated for just applying miskit, then rinse it really well in GOOF OFF before washing it with Dawn Liquid Detergent, then hot water to clean it out.

The painting is really a contrast of darks and lights with just a bit of humor thrown in. This pelican lives in Bonita Springs, Florida, and it's evident that he WAS fishing from that dock.

Enjoy the rest of your summer if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. We (grandkids and me, plus my honey when he's not at work) have spent time everyday at the pool... two more weeks of grandkid fun before they must head home. This week it's just the two girls, so life seems nearly casual this morning! Oh yes, I DID paint yesterday - little toenails and fingernails, some orange and some deep pink! I love painting, and I LOVE being a grandma.

"NO FISHIN'" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 15 x 22" COLLECTED

Impromptu YUPO

This painting was done as a quick, impromptu demo for last month's batik workshop..... and it's done on YUPO paper. YUPO is a slick, plastic-like surface that will last for ages and ages. Painting on it with watercolor and fluid acrylics results in even brighter colors than if painting on regular watercolor paper.

At the end of August, I'll be teaching a YUPO workshop here in my studio, to introduce some unique and different approaches to using YUPO. All kinds of mediums will be used, from charcoal to Caran d'Ache crayons, even inks. Our subject matter will be limited only by our imaginations, and I'm looking forward to a great workshop.

Check out more info on the right hand side bar if you're interested in the workshop, but right now, I only have room for four more in the workshop.

"IRENE'S BRIDGE" Transparent Watercolor on Medium Weight YUPO 11 x 18" COLLECTED

ADJUSTMENTS

Batik adjustments are easy enough to make once the wax is removed and the batik is adhered to either canvas or acid free watercolor paper. The posts here show the final result first, along with the stages the batik went through after I'd ironed the wax out of the rice paper. This was one of the demos done for the Craftsummer Workshop which I taught a couple of weeks ago at Miami University.

This final painting, posted first, shows the many value changes as well as color and shape adjustments, compared to the original, shown next. The artists at Craftsummer only saw the batik as seen below, with the warmer overall temperature and paler border.

I'd planned for a cool temperature painting with a warm focal area, but that just didn't happen. Many adjustments had to be made to improve the painting, and I decided I'd rather sacrifice some of the batik effect, if I had to, in order to pull off a better painting.

The window in the upper left and the archway in the lower right really needed help, as did the strength of the shadows on the steps. I also wanted to add some cool teals and turquoises to the warm areas to help alleviate the heat of the painting.

The corners all needed to be darkened to help 'enclose' the painting, but even after doing that, I felt that it still lacked depth. Darkening the border considerably and minimizing the diamond shapes in it helped give the painting a better sense of depth - - - compare first pix with third one - shown here with lighter border.

My original photo, below, shows the scene that inspired this batik, but I used lots of artistic license to create a better composition. My goal was to capture the feelings I had while we were in this incredibly beautiful little village. I left Linda out of the painting and wondered later if the painting might have been more interesting if I had included her. Too late now, though.

A close up of the focal area shows details of the temperature changes - last pix posted here - as well as the stronger colors added for the flower areas. There were really a lot of adjustments on this batik, but not as many as on the one I'm working on now.

During one of the last days at Craftsummer, I was painting hot wax on this batik to completely cover the whole sheet of rice paper. Suddenly, I realized I had my other batik-in-progress UNDER this one. Where I'd just added the hot wax, it soaked into that underlying rice paper batik-in-progress.

A couple of the artists helped me carefully pull the two pieces of waxed rice paper apart, and now I must iron off all that 'mistake' wax on that bottom batik. YIKES! Once I re wax the shapes, I hope I can continue that batik and pull it off. We'll see.....

Batik is an intense process that's very time consuming, but well worth it. I won't give up on that batik-in-progress yet, since I already have a lot of time invested in it. If it doesn't turn out, I'll still have some beautiful pieces of colored rice paper to use for collage later.

Finished Painting at Top of Post ---
"COMO COUNTRY" Transparent Watercolor Batiked with Hot Wax on Kinwashi, with Sumi Ink, mounted on Wrapped Canvas 18 x 24"

Detail of focal area

GREAT ART & NEW FRIENDS

Teaching a five day workshop is invigorating and fulfilling for me, (as well as exhausting.) As a teacher, I get to watch wonderful, creative artwork being born as well as get to know some fascinating and often unusually talented artists. The supplies we use and the techniques we employ give us similar vehicles to uniquely express who we are as artists.

Each person's use of color, line, shape, and texture is different from the next. Approaches varied for each assignment, and the results were stunning. Some of the batiks were over two feet long, but most were between 12" and 18".

Batik is an intense method of creating art using hot wax to preserve shapes. We all learned from each other, from our successes and from our failures.

It seems that each painting expresses a special part of that artist in a way that only she can express. The happy accidents along the way added to the mystery of making art. It was a wonderful week. Thank you all for being such a great class, for working so hard, for making it fun to be with other artists. The hardest part for me is always saying "goodbye" at the end.





Linda Lyons - 12" square circle design

DeeAnne Helm - Harbor batik

Emily Hostetter - City lights

Sondra Karipides - Daisies

Kathy Storrie - Venice

Sarajane Steinecker - 12" square leaf design

Irene Friedman - 12" square design

Jenny Koch - 12" square design

Amber Michaels - Portraits with collage

Andrea Stewart - 12" design

BATIK CLASS AT MIAMI U

Here are some more of the exquisite batiks created last week in my workshop. When they were completed, some were adhered to white watercolor paper while some were mounted onto a wrapped canvas. All are originals, designed by each artist. More to come in the next post, too. ENJOY!

Sondra Karipides 12" square design



















Kathy Storrie - Hands

Andrea Stewart - Fluid design with border

Amber Michael - Drink of water

Sarajane Steinecker - 12" square on Itchimatsu rice paper

Linda Lyons - Non-representational batik mounted on canvas, with embellishments

Irene Friedman - 12" square on Itchimatsu rice paper

Jenny Koch - Lily pads

Emily Hostetter - 12" square on Itchimatsu rice paper

DeeAnne Helm - 12" squares

Anne Bongiovanni - floral batik

That's all until the next post.

BIRTHDAY BOY

Our first grandchild is NINE YEARS old today! So hard to believe. The joy he brings to our lives is awesome. He's such a blessing.

Here are some of the paintings I've painted over the years of him, several of which have been posted before. All are watercolor on Arches or Fabriano, 140#CP. My favorite's of him and his dog.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRANT!!!