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.

 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.