Jump into the Water...color

Last chance to register for Watercolor classes at Y Arts Studio. Classes start next week. Advanced/Intermediate on Tuesday night 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm and Intro to Watercolors on Wednesdays 9:30 am - 11:30 am. Classes are open to YMCA members and non-members; all supplies are include in fee. Watercolor classes begin next week, Nov. 8 and 9.
For more information go to www.ymcaofgreatersyracuse.org

Donations of Artwork

As an artist I am often asked to donate artwork for fundraisers. Over the years I have become more selective about which organizations I donate to. I now have a much smaller list of recipients, but each holds a personal connection for me.
Here is one of the fundraisers that have made my list: CLIPTOMANIA Presents VISIONS Hair Show to Support MS, Oct. 29, 6:00PM - 9:00PM, Barbagallos Restaurant.
In keeping with the hair/fashion show theme for the evening, my donation was a scarf from my Art To Wear collection of velvet embossed scarves and bags.

"Tethered",

My latest painting titled "Tethered" takes a more conventional approach to watercolor in that I actually used watercolor, not food coloring. (See the last blog for the results of that experiment!) Colors are loose and fluid. The rocks actually started as one big wet, sloppy mass of Payne's gray, ultramarine blue,and a touch of alizarin crimson...and lots of water. I started this painting as a demo in my Watercolor class to demonstrate the wet on wet technique, which I love. This is, I think the beauty of watercolor. There is nothing more fun than watching the colors mix, blend and do their thing. The hard part is that it's kind of like playing chess. You need to plan about 4 steps ahead in order to create that "spontaneous " feel, and to make sure the colors you choose blend nicely.

Experimental Watercolor

I usually favor the more traditional approach to watercolor, but recently I read an article about painting with food coloring. The article of course had painting to go with it. The colors were very rich and vibrant so I thought I would give it a try. I had recently experimented with liquid watercolor, so food coloring was just one step beyond. Before I started the painting I lightly sketched a few leaves around the paper. Then I got my watercolor paper very wet. I dropped bits of red, yellow, blue and green food coloring here and there around the leaves and then let the food coloring and water do its thing. The results were an amazing mix of colors, some very vibrant others deep and rich.
I later went back into the picture and gave another layer of color to the negative spaces around the leaves to add depth. The finishing touch of gold gouache paint came last.
I am planning another experiment with food coloring, this time using cool colors and snowflakes. According to the article I had read, the color does not fade, but only time will tell. For now, I am happy with the results.

Good news from The Healing Muse

My mixed media piece tiled "Wishing I Could Remember the Violets" was selected for the 2011 Healing Muse Upstate Medical Center for Bioethics and Humanities literary and visual journal.
This picture was inspired by my mother's Irish family who lived on Tipperary Hill. I also lived in that neighborhood for several years when I was a child. I had the pleasure of frequently returning to the old neighborhood when my daughter Irish Danced (from ages 7 - 18). I spent many happy hours watching the dancers all practice their steps and thinking about my Irish heritage, and listening to sounds outside like church bells, which I never heard at my house out in the 'burbs. And also, for some unknown reason I have always associated my grandmother with violets. That's where the inspiration for "Wishing I Could Remember the Violets" came from.
Now the picture is all the more poignant as my mother has been diagnosed with dementia and my daughter has gone off to college, and so the days of watching the dancers has ended. Life changes, sometimes fast, sometimes gradually.
And I still have no clue why I am obsessing over violets!?????
Anyway, this is a mixed media piece which started with an abstract watercolor background. Images were created with colored pencil and enhanced with metallic paint and markers; de-emphasized with a layer of thin gauzy rice paper. The people pictured in the painting are my maternal grandparents Peter and Mary Enright.

A few more samples of student work

A few more samples of student work from our 3-day landscape painting session at Camp Iroquois.

Neither rain, nor bugs nor fading daylight kept our intrepid group of painters away from our 3-day Landscape painting session at Camp Iroquois last week. For most of them it was their first venture into plein air painting and also a first time using acrylic paint.The group ranged in age from teen to adult.
Here are a few samples of their work.