Beginning Abstract

 Emerging Iris

12” x 16” watercolor

The Sisters challenge this week was abstract painting. I started out with a photo I took of three irises and some daisies in our yard. I started trying to sketch them in abstract. I was not very good at it. Eventually I got to a point where they started to remind me of Dali’s melting clocks. From there, I took off. We have a cow skull in our yard (from a cow who died of old age in the desert) who we call Art. I wanted to include him in a very realistic manner. If you look at some of Dali’s work, he often include realistic objects that just make you scratch your head. I also liked the straight lines of the fence, so I stuck some of those in. As I continued sketching, it looked to me like my irises were going from semi realistic, in front, to almost surreal, on the left, to completely bizarre. The distant right side iris seems to have dripped completely into a puddle with a frog sitting on a lili pad in the middle. I decided that worked. Somehow, I wanted to acknowledge the lovely daisies that seem to be taking over parts of our yard. I think the tubular things that come out of and go back into the ground must have come from a recent rereading of Frank Herbert’s Dune. 

Those are some of the ramblings that went through my mind as I was doing this painting. I have no idea what I will do next week. I wonder if I can abstract a barn.

Summer Cabins

 

Summer Cabins

9” x 12” watercolor

Julie Pryne sent me this wonderful photo of some summer cabins from her trip to Sweden. I loved the log structures with the metal roofs. I used several different techniques in getting the textures of the logs, decreasing the details as the cabins moved into the distance. The biggest problem here is my difficulty with trees.

I am trying to move away from painting tree symbols to painting realistic looking trees. I need to find more tree painting tutorials. I looked at a few today on YouTube, and one was very helpful for painting pine trees. That would have been good for this painting. I think I will start using the backs of older paintings, that I don’t like, to practice trees for awhile. Since most of my paintings have trees, they could only improve if I practiced trees more.

Hand Made

 

Hand Made

12” x 9” watercolor

Yesterday, I painted another still life. This time, I included several things from my studio that have been hand made. The straw doll is something I got at an art and craft fair in Redmond, WA, many years ago. The stand holding the brushes was hand made from a length of bamboo. It is from Japan. The brushes in the stand are handmade hake brushes. They are great for water washes. The wood block stamps are handmade in Indonesia, I think. I got them at Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, VA. The books are hand made. The two on the bottom are still empty. I made those. The standing book, that does not close because I have been filling it with small art, was a gift from the maker, Sally-Jo. It was fun to do a painting highlighting these special pieces.

I am feeling a need to clean out my studio space. The floor is dusty, as is every other flat surface. That is a Spokane condition. I also need to start weeding out all the stuff I don’t use anymore. Of course, the minute I get rid of it, I will need it. At least I can start with the dust. I don’t foresee a need for it.

Painting Clouds

 

Cloud Study I

9” x 12” watercolor

Photo for study

Taken in May, 2023

Five Mile Prairie

I love beautiful cloudy skies. We have been having wonderful formations lately, so I decided to learn to paint them. The trick, I was told, was to get soft and hard edges. Of course, you have to know where to place both. Next time, I will work on getting better grays. 

Today is Sisters, and I will be working on another still life. Stay tuned.

 Deception Pass Bridge

9” x 12” watercolor

Back in 2008, I painted this in pastels (see the blog post from 6/20/2008). I sold it a few years ago. I realized lately that I missed the painting. When I found a stack of photos I used to do several pastel paintings, I found the original I took on location. I decided to try it again in watercolor.

Deception Pass Bridge connects the mainland to Whidbey Island at the northern end of the island. It is a beautiful structure, and a well known destination in northwest Washington. 

There are many differences in my pastel and watercolor paintings. There is more detail in the trees in the pastel. The bridge is very similar, except that in the watercolor, I used a liquid mask to keep the color away from the structure. With pastels, I was able to put the lighter elements on top of the darker background. Learning to keep lighter places in a dark background is much more of a challenge with watercolor.

Painting memories

Still Life with Quilt

9”  x 12” watercolor

 In Sisters, my painting group, we are doing still lives for two weeks. I did this one last Friday. We were supposed to use items that had meaning to us. I chose the quilt background because it is one my sister made a gave to me. We bought the fabric at Uwajimia, and took classes at the In The Beginning quilting store near where I lived at the time. It brings back a good memory.

The vase in front is from Korea. It reminds me of living there when I was in my early twenties. It was a great adventure. I have also made collage pieces based on my time there.

The carved wooden statue of the fisherman is one of my treasured pieces from Japan. My mother brought me up to appreciate, and love, Asian art. She was able to visit Japan many years ago, and this was a piece from that trip.

The red vase looks like a red lacquered carved cinnabar piece. I am pretty sure it is plastic, but it looks real enough, and makes a very nice candle holder. It was a gift from a friend, from when we lived in Hawaii.

This was great fun, so I will do another one this week. I’m already auditioning pieces to be included.

This last painting was also done last week. It is based on a photo by Julie Pryne.

Richmond, England - the home of Ted Lasso

9” x 12” watercolor 

Switching to Watercolor

 

Diamond Head Light

2023

9” x 12” watercolor

I have flirted with watercolor for the past 30 years, but I only got serious about it a couple of years ago. Every Friday, for the past two plus years, I have been painting with a zoom group we call Sisters. We are two pairs of sisters, plus one, who live on both sides of the US. We started out exploring acrylic painting, but ended up going with watercolor. I love it.

My favorite things to paint are buildings, especially barns. I hope to stay current in my posts, with older ones thrown in for fun.

Since I have not posted for many years, I am including a few older paintings in this post, then try to start posting more regularly. I’m happy to be back.

Barn

2023

Based on photo by Carroll with permission

The Med

2023

North Shore

2023

Based on photo by Tom