Fun Times in Febrrrrrrrrrruary!

We had a low of 14 degrees in the wee hours of the morning yesterday here in South Carolina.  One of our doggies refused to go outside except for very serious business.  The other two managed a few runs around the yard when the sun was at it's brightest.  I'm not complaining.  I have friends in MA where the snow is over their heads.  However, I'm really not used to wearing so many layers of clothes inside, and it's drafty painting in my favorite spot (breakfast room) because of all the windows.  I end up hiding out in my office and playing on my computer. . . Good time to update my blog.

Wanted to share the web site of a terrific watercolorist: Marney Ward. . . I long to be able to capture the light as she does with her beautiful floral paintings.  Please click around her pages and enjoy.  http://www.marneyward.com/

I'm getting back into the swing of regular painting again.  Being able to see better has eased my frustration big time.  Here's my first barn, a subject matter that's a favorite among painters.

And here it was the 1st time I thought I was finished with it .

Same red barn but I felt it was just sitting there with no story.  Just a barn.  It also seemed out of balance somehow.  So I added some pale yellow on the horizon and put in a cold winter cloud.  I also increased the shadow on the snow at the bottom left.  What do you think?  Does it have a little more to say now? 

I also started another barn.  This one is a little warmer to look at although not as well cared for. Hope to get back to it today and finish. 

And, I must confess that I also attempted to paint a big wet on wet colorful stormy sky based on the style and technique of a painter who shared it all on a "You can do this too, don't I make it look easy?" YouTube video.  Timing and skill is everything when trying to paint like this.  Obviously my timing was off and my skill was lacking because my paint looks like mud in the sky.  

I'll give it another try at a later date.  I was way out of my comfort zone painting freely with no drawing.  It was still fun, but it would have been even better if my painting had turned out the way I envisioned it.  Such is life! 

Going with the flow of negative painting

I started this painting (8 x 11) last week and finished it late this afternoon.  I chose the subject because I needed a self taught lesson in negative painting, something I really struggle with. 

Nothing was drawn out, I just started painting, placing a yellow wash all over the paper.  I then dropped in some of the beautiful new Quinacridone color paints I recently treated myself to - reds, and rusts, and umbers.  Next I dropped in a bit of a terrific bright green.  The task before me was to start painting around the colors to gradually create a tree branch with colorful fall leaves that had fallen into the water.  

I had seen a photo of leaves floating in water and used it for inspiration,  but after getting a feeling for what colors to use, I put the photo away.  It's difficult to describe how strange it was for me to just paint and not constantly have a photo to refer back to for reference. I wanted to paint something looser and more impressionistic than what I usually do.  This was my way to try doing that.  For some reason,  and maybe it's just due to taking the picture in the late afternoon light from the window, the water did not register as green as it is in the actual painting.

I'm so glad that I stuck this one out because there were so many moments when I wanted to just put it aside and work on painting something I'm more familiar with.  I learned along the way that it's OK to and I'm capable of changing my initial ideas as I go along.  It's not necessary to stick with what I think I want because I could be missing out on something much better if I don't go with the flow - literally - when working with watercolors.  

Me and Jack The Poet

Thought I'd share this picture taken of me and Jack Burkheimer, The Poet, taken September of 2014 when he shared his poem with the congregation of the UUCC, Columbia SC.  He walked in the door.  I looked at him and thought, "I KNOW that man.  Who is he?"  All of a sudden it dawned on me that I'd spent more than a few days looking into his eyes as I painted his portrait.  I walked up to him and said, "You're Jack, and I did a watercolor painting of you!"  Not the best way to introduce yourself, but I was excited to meet him.  I showed him the painting on my iPhone and his eyes welled up and he was obviously quite touched and flattered.  At the time I did the painting I had hopes of somehow turning paintings connected with the homeless in Columbia into fund raisers for Food Not Bombs and the like.  I just didn't know how to go about doing it.  Maybe some day.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I always share on my facebook watercolor page when one of my paintings has found a new home.   Today's share was especially touching for me because the painting, due to a miscommunication, quickly passed from it's new owner into the possession of the subject of the painting, Jack, a poet, who also happens to be homeless.  So, while the painting has another very happy new owner, it can not be hung in his home.  How I wish Columbia SC had a program in place that provides housing for the homeless.  Jack has a painting to hang.

Here is what my friend posted on my facebook page telling me how her painting found it's new "home" with Jack:

"Jack's Picture..... Sharon, as you know, you gave me such a wonderful gift this Sunday, your lovely painting of Jack Burkheimer, my dear friend who is called the Poet Laureate of the Homeless.  You saw that I was speechless and could not even thank you at first for crying.   What an honor to have that gift.  The picture is such a likeness that it could be the photograph I took that you used as a model.  Let me tell you what happened.  

I took the painting to our picnic in the park that we have every Sunday at 1 -- Food Not Bombs.  When we parked and everybody, including Jack, was gathered around to say Hello to Tom who had been sick for several weeks, I brought out the painting to show them all, knowing how much they would all love it.  In the midst of the Ohs and Ahs ... Jack reached out and gently took it from me.  With tears in his eyes he said, "That's so wonderful that you all would do this for me: She is such a gifted artist.  I can't thank you enough.  I'll let my daughter keep it in her house till I get a place of my own -- I hope some day soon."  Wow!  I wanted so bad to say, "No, Jack, she gave it to me and I love it."  But of course I couldn't.  So, now it has a new home."

Here' is one of Jack's poems:

FIGMENT

Oh look at all the people going to work
as if marching off to war.
They pass by me, but don't see me as if
I am a figment of my Imagination.
Later they march off to party and still don't see me
I must be a figment of my Imagination.
They see my backpack, my worn shoes
As I fade into the bricks.
Walking down the sidewalk, they go out of their way
To avoid me.
They must see me.
I say in my best voice, "Good day".
They do not hear.
I must be a figment of my Imagination.
No eyes meet mine.
How can they?
I'm fading into the bricks.
No living person can feel this hollow; it's proof
I am a figment of my imagination.
They talk bitter of us, as if I'm not there--of course I'm not.
I'm fading into the bricks.
I've done a lot in my life, and will again--they don't see.
The fading is almost complete.
And just when I think there is nothing left to see,
Kind eyes find mine--
They pull me back.
A hand shake, or caring hand on my shoulder.
They don't look down or talk down to me.
They look and talk to me.
If only they knew, that kind person---
I want them to know, that in that moment of their concern,
I know that
I am not a figment of my Imagination.
Jack W. Burkheimer

Shape Making | Ballance Sheets

Shape Making | Ballance Sheets



I loved reading what Judy Balance has to say in her blog (above link) about shapes and wanted to share it. Both artists and art lovers can benefit from reading it. I also love her painting!  Enjoy.

Knock knock

Who's there?

Orange

Orange who?

Orange ya glad I painted this, cuz I am!

Ok I know that was beyond silly, but I've had insomnia since 3 and I'm lying in bed with my iPad on a pillow on my stomach, so I'm feeling neither creative nor intelligent. Never the less, I am glad I painted this one. I was inspird by a photo from one of my favorite websites, Paint My Photo. I'm realizing that painting a still life is rather calming for me, more like a meditation with less emotional involvement than when I paint people or animals. Interesting. Rather than attempting to get a personality across I'm trying to paint the sensation of moisture and layers in the orange sections, textures, and just the right colors that made me think about how oranges smell and wonder if they were cold or maybe fresh off the tree. We had a wonderful orange tree when we lived in FL and miss it. 

Dang!  Now I'm hungry in addition to being wide awake but too tired to do anything about it. Time to snuggle a doggie (Daisy is closest -  smashed up against my side) and at least pretend to sleep.