The porch railing

A few years ago, as I was going down our main street in St Michaels, I spotted a porch railing that was tangled with a wonderful flowering vine. Of course, I got out my camera and began to take pictures. Then I forgot all about it.

Recently my watercolor class has been working on a project that we are calling "Painted Ladies." We are looking for Victorian houses with interesting features - windows, porches, carpenter's lace, interesting colors...  I went through my picture file and there was the porch railing picture I had taken - waiting to be painted.

I sketched in the railing and vine...and then began painting...

I went a little nuts with leaves, but loved the flow of vines. If you look closely, you can see part of the window sketched in above the vine. I realized after I got this far that the shutter was too small, so I drew it larger and added paint to it. In the photo, the house was gray and the shutter was black. That seemed a little boring to me. I wanted my painted lady to have color!

So now I have a yellow house with green shutters. I got this far and oh no, I made the shutter bigger but had left the clapboard siding too narrow.  Too many lines - too busy. I stopped and took it to class for a helpful critique.

It is so important to stop and really look at my work. Listening to others - what they see and say makes such a difference. Being too close to what I am doing gets in the way of making it better!

Comments: 

Define window sill

Add shadow under shutter 

More shadow under and at side of railing

Connect window to railing by having vine touch window

Add weight to vine in lower right hand corner - it will balance the shutter

What a difference!

I can always learn from others. Thanks!

Mat scrap inspirations...

My husband is a writer/photographer - we have a darkroom in our house where he develops, prints, mats and frames his photographs. A couple weeks ago he was having problems with the mat cutter (which, since I began to paint, we are now sharing).

I joined him at the mat cutting table and we began to practice cutting mats with some odd shaped scraps that were left over from another project. We solved the trouble issue and ended up with some long, skinny mats that were really interesting.

Now, normally I paint something and then cut a mat to fit what I have painted. Hmmm, what about doing it the other way around? Paint something to go in the mats we just cut! Here were some challenging shapes - yes, that would be inspiring...and fun.

I was looking for something light and whimsical - some watercolor and ink sketches would be perfect! It's a hot summer day...the ideal thing for the vertical shape would be... 

and then I tried a horizontal - 

That started me on a whole lot of other sketches - for another blog. I think they may end up being for sale at the annual art league Labor Day Show and Sale in St Michaels on September 3 & 4. Mark your calendars and come see them in person!

Once upon a time...

A few weeks ago as I was leaving my watercolor class with a couple of other students, one of them stopped and pointed to a tree, "Look at that!" she said. I turned around and saw a rusty old wheel in the crook of the tree. It had obviously been there a long time as the tree had grown around it.

I have passed by this tree dozens of times and never seen this before! (It makes me wonder how much else I have missed...) "There is a painting", I thought - I took a picture of it.

I have also been intrigued by some 'rivulet' paintings that I had recently seen. Perhaps I could do a rivulet painting of the old wheel.

The rivulet technique is one is which you begin by doing a drawing on watercolor paper. Then the paper is wet and a raw umber is applied. I covered the paper with a raw umber wash and then dabbed on some heavier blobs of the raw umber pigment.

Next, while the paper is still pretty wet, I held the painting up vertically and sprayed the whole thing so that the rivulets began to form. This takes a little while, but the texture is really amazing.

Here are some close ups - 

The next steps are to add various washes to define the picture and then lift some of the paint to capture the highlights and, for this picture, to identify the old wheel. 

"Once upon a time there was a cart..."   11x 14 watercolor $225

So, there you have it - interesting technique, texture and story...although the story has yet to be written. I don't have a clue as to how or why the wheel got into the tree. I/we need to make up something great and write a book about it!

Screen Painting

It's officially summer - things are supposed to slow down now... It seems the past few weeks I have  been on 'high' getting ready to slow down! I have missed blogging - it's good to get back.

A few weeks ago the art league offered a class in screen painting. It sounded like fun - certainly something very different from my watercolor or pastels.

Painted screens were very popular in the Baltimore area years ago. Various scenes were painted on the outside of the screen. People passing by could see the painting, but not look in the window. From the inside, you could see out and not see the painting at all! Amazing really.

There were about a dozen of us taking the class that morning. We had a little history lesson about the screens and then we all started to paint. When the screen was finished. We painted the wooden frame.

I am not going to revel the secrets of how you paint on only one side - just know that we all had a great time. If you want to find out more, google John Iamperi and see what he does.

This is the back of the screen...

And, here is the front!

The Boat Shed

A few weeks ago, one of the regulars in the watercolor class brought in a photograph of three boats that were stored in/near a shed. There were several more boats in the background. I am not sure how it happened, but apparently the class decided it would be fun if everyone painted it! Since I was not there that day, I just received the photo in an email and was told about the 'assignment.'

UGH! I am not a boat painter - here were LOTS of boats - and I am trying to simplify - here were LOTS of boats!

But, even though I am only on the sub list, I am part of the class and want to 'play by the rules.' So I would tackle this project.

The first thing I did was print out the photo. The nice thing about painting is that each of us can choose to interpret an assignment in the way that works for each individual. We are NOT compelled to copy the picture.

How could I simplify? Maybe just paint one of the many boats... I cut the photo in half. That's better.

I did my sketch and thought it might be okay. As I began painting, I got into the rhythm of it and began to think of the boating that my husband and I had done. At one point we had an old dinghy much like this one and I remember it leaning against a tree in our backyard in the 'off' season.

I painted the boat and the shed. When I got to the background, I decided to throw in some color (not paint any "things") and then I added a yellow sky. I knew it wasn't finished, but wanted to just look at it for awhile to see what else I might do.

I took it to class the following week - it looked like this.

One of the questions asked in class was "Where is the horizon?" It needs to be defined. It also needed more definition on the keel and the lower corner of the boat. I added some additional darks and a few other tweaks here and there. Voila - it looks like this!

"The Boat Shed"  matted 16x20 watercolor  $150

This painting is currently hanging in Miller Hall at Trinity Cathedral. Drop by and see several other artists' works also!

The Chalice

A few weeks ago I attended a one day workshop entitled "Artistic Breakthrough - taking your art to the next level." It seemed like a good idea, except that I had just completed the marine chart with the challenging small, acrylic paintings (see my last post) and felt like I needed a break from 'breakthrough/challenge.'

At that point, I was not quite sure what 'the next level' would be.

The workshop information invited us to use any medium. Hmmm, it would be good - and feel familiar - to reconnect with my watercolors or pastels. Since I regularly substitute in a watercolor class, I chose to spend this day with my somewhat neglected pastels.

We had lots of choices as to what we would paint that morning. It's been a long time since I used the pastels, so I decided to paint the still life set up as a warm-up exercise. The set up was a tarnished silver goblet... and a few other things. I am into simplifying, so I focused only on the goblet.

I had such a great time - the drawing just flowed! And then, I began to add the color. I love the pastels at this stage. Layers of color, changing and glowing...it was like magic for me.

I have tweaked it a bit since then - and continue to look at it from across the room. Recently, I stuck it in a gold frame and I love it. It's no longer just a goblet for me - it's a chalice.

"The Chalice"     9x12 pastel     $225  

Jimmy Buffett and Me

For years I have enjoyed listening to Jimmy Buffett - I love his music and his laid back style. It evokes wonderful memories of sailing trips in the Caribbean, warm breezes, a bit of rum...you get the idea.

So, when I was asked by Brad Fout, of LeHatchery Gallery in Easton to work with him on a special project involving Jimmy Buffett, I said "Yes!"

I went to talk to Brad to find out more about the project - LeHatchery is donating a framed marine chart that has Jimmy Buffett's signature on it to the Bryan Brothers Foundation for their annual auction. Brad told me that he has always loved my crabs (St Michaels Art League Banner Project - see examples in posts - Feb 1, 2016 & Feb 5, 2015) and asked if I would be willing to paint one on the chart. It sounded like a fun project.

We discussed other "Chesapeake Bay" things that might also be painted on the chart to enhance it. Now both of us are getting more excited about the possibilities.

Then I discovered that the chart paper was water resistant! Hmmm, I am a watercolor painter. Now, this is a challenge...I left with a strip of the paper from the bottom of the chart so that I could try out my watercolors.

Of course, they wouldn't work. After experimenting with acrylics, begging a friend to 'teach me to paint with oils,' and consulting other artists, I got down to work practicing...  I began with a gesso base (which I toned light blue) and then used acrylics - which seemed most like the watercolors I am used to.

I tried lots of different ideas and placed the figures around the chart in various places. Yesterday, I finally began painting on the actual chart and completed it!

Here are close ups of my paintings...

And of course, I know you want to see this...!

FYI - the auction is this coming Saturday, April 9th at the Oaks in Royal Oak. For more information about the event or to buy tickets, call 410-819-3780 or email info@shorekids.org.