THE COLORS OF FOG

8"x10"

Day 23 of 30 Paintings/30 Days Challenge.  I REALLY wanted to paint something in bright colors to offset the dreary day outside my window today, but then I fell in love with all the variations in the beautiful grays.  Thanks to Jeanne Dobie's book, Making Color Sing, I tried several "recipes" for grays to create green/grays, gold/grays, blue/grays, and even pink/grays.  I guess that's just another way to make lemonade out of lemons, isn't it?

FAMILY FIRE

8"x10"

Day 22 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  Our family loves a good bonfire.  Don't you just love  grabbing a bag of marshmallows, a few hot dogs and spending a few hours laughing and chit chatting around the fire with your favorite people?

This semi-abstract painting began as a watercolor, wet into wet to create the soft 'smoky' atmosphere, then when the paper dried, I started painting those hard edged shapes to define the fire and the figures. There's a little collage and I used my white pen for the marshmallows.  This painting is 8"x10" and the price is $85 plus shipping.

  

HIS BANNER OVER US IS LOVE

8"x10"

Day 21 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.   "…..His banner over us is love" is from Song of Solomon 2:4.  When I imagined this painting, I visualized the figures RADIATING love.  It seems our assignment now more than ever is to radiate love wherever we can. 

PROCESS: The painting began with wet in wet watercolor washes.  Avoiding the center area where the figures were to be, I allowed just a little of the warm yellow ochre and quinacridone coral to flow into the figures.  I wanted the background to be cold and dark in contrast so I added the blues, purples and greens.  After that all dried, I began to design the negative spaces, describing the shapes of the main figures as well as the shadow figures in the background.  Collage was next with the radiating circular shapes and the banner.  A few iridescent colors sprinkled around and done.

If there is anything I've learned from this challenge, it's that it is a wonderful way to identify what "style" is most comfortable and authentic.  After experimenting with  several techniques and styles,  I've discovered the one that brings the most adrenalin and joy to me is this semi abstract way of working.  It feels the most authentic and goes beyond the constraints of reporting "just the facts" of a subject.  I hope it will speak to others too.

GATED COMMUNITY

8"x10"
SOLD

Day 20 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I LOVE painting abstractly! This painting evolved from a few loose washes of color. After I used the 'fence looking' stamp, the meaning became clear to me. It looked like a gated community and it stirred a lot of thoughts of what that actually means to me.  Being kind of an introvert (and VERY PASSIONATE about my work), it's very easy for me to isolate myself in the studio and forget the importance and JOY of touching friends and family,,,,so this is a personal cautionary tale.  It also reminded me in this political climate how easy it is to build walls against those who see the world differently than we do and how we shortchange ourselves in the process.  

What began as a watercolor went through several stages.  From watercolor to collage to iridescent and metallic colors to fluid acrylic glazes to brighten up the design.  Love this way of working….a BIG THANK YOU to Karen Knutson for her inspiring lessons on abstraction which started me on this path.

FIELD OF DREAMS

8"x10"

Day 19 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  A few days of painting abstractly makes me a happy artist.  I begin these paintings with watercolor washes that set both the design tone for the painting as well as the color plan.  Then I start collaging my Gelli print papers and other bits and bobs to reinforce the design.  I've been experimenting with a product called 'paper clay' to add some texture and dimension and to help define the center of interest area.  Since it's a paper product, you can watercolor paint on it when it's dry or stamp into it while it's wet.  Of course they must be framed differently than traditional watercolor because of their depth.  A shadow box frame works best. So much fun!  Give it a try.

JANUARY THAW

8"x10"

Day 18 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  They say you don't really appreciate the good things in life until you've experienced some dark days. Nobody knows that more than a Minnesotan.  These lovely sunlit days in January bring such joy and deep appreciation, especially after many days of living in the deep freeze.

I painted this one as a demo in my ongoing weekly class today and began wet in wet to create the halo of light in the background.  It's funny about snow scenes. Although you'd think there is a lot of white paper left exposed, the best way to really focus the light is to create some mid value to dark cool shadows surrounding the light areas.  A few very dark 'pine needle' strokes, a smidgen of complementary cobalt violet and there you have it…a winter walk.

SPRING FEVER

8"x10"

Day 17 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge:  It's true. I'm suffering from a fever.  Spring fever. These next few days the weather man is promising above normal temperatures and it has me thinking Spring. I spent a few minutes this morning perusing the seed catalogues and that only made my temperature rise.  

This watercolor was painted more wet on dry paper, one bloom at a time.  You can see at the top where I began painting the dark background into the still wet flowers to create a soft edge, eliminating that cut out and pasted on look that can happen when you have a flat black background like this one. 

If you see something you love, just a reminder that all my 'Challenge paintings' are for sale and most are 8"x10." The price is $85 plus shipping.