Start of a new painting

 I would like to post a painting that I am working on in progression. This is the first time that I am using the pouring technique so I will show how I started this painting and maybe if you have never tried it out yet, you can experiment with me.  I love paintings that incorporate this technique and I want to get out of my comfort zone of painting so tightly. Here is how it looked after my first pour:

I used an interesting combination of Hansa Yellow Medium, Moonglow and German Greenish Raw Umber colors from Daniel Smith. For my particular subject matter, which you will see as I go along, are the colors that I am happy with. I masked out some key areas that I want to "pop" against the background.

First Watercolor Artists Retreat

 Located on the shores of Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan, I conducted a lovely retreat for watercolor artists. It was a great get-away. If you ever consider a vacation, northern Michigan is beautiful. I recommend it highly.

It was so successful that plans are made to repeat the retreat same time next year.

Here are some of the things that were painted.

As seen in Watercolor Artist Magazine

 The Splash series advertising for next year's competition, choose my painting, "Soft Landing" to advertise on the back cover of Watercolor Artist Magazine. This has been an interesting year for me with getting my artwork published and winning awards. For all you watercolor enthusiasts, "Watercolor Artists Magazine" is a great magazine to subscribe to. 

Certificate & Awards- Women in Watercolor

It was today that I received my award certificate! I would encourage all women artists to enter into this competition for next year. They do a beautiful job of promoting your artwork on their website. Here are the award winners for the Raymar Merchandise Awards given out in several categories.

To see all the entries that made it into the competition, go to: www.WomenInWatercolor.com .

 

Next Bit of News! Won Raymar Merchandise Award in the Women in Watercolor Exhibition

 "Aphrodisiac" was accepted into the Women In Watercolor Exhibition and won the Raymar Merchandise Award in the still life/floral category! This has been a good year for me. It is so nice to get recognition for the work that you perfect over the years. According to the information on the site: https://womeninwatercolor.com/  , they had 1615 submissions from 56 countries. They selected 220 paintings for acceptance. So just making it into the show is an honor. To be selected for an award is very special! I will be eager to try out the products that Raymar produces. Please do go to their website and check out their watercolor boards and other products.

The Best of Watercolor: Special Issue, Winners of the Splash 23 Art Competition

I am pleased to announce that my painting "Soft Landing" received an Honorable Mention in the Best of Watercolor Magazine! This special issue shows winners of the Splash 23 Art Competition! Page 21 is where you will find my painting. One Hundred paintings from around the world are highlighted. This was presented by Artist's Magazine & American Artist. The competition was juried by acclaimed artist, Mary Whyte.

So if you are in need of inspiration, do pick up the publication as you will see some really great paintings!

Award of Excellence!

 I was pleased to have received during the "Our Town Art Exhibit" located in Birmingham, Michigan an Award of Excellence for my painting titled "Pearl River Mart." I received this award from Liz DuMouchelle who is a huge benefactor for the arts in the Detroit area. My painting was inspired from an Asian store in NYC. It had all kinds of colors, shapes, activity going on and I thought it would make for an interesting watercolor. The event took place at the Community House, Birmingham, MI on 3/31/22.

IWM International Watercolour Masters

I was pleased to find out on Christmas Eve that my painting was selected to receive the Top 200 Merit Award from the International Watercolour Masters located in England. There were 3,725 entries from around the world! There were a panel of 20 judges from around the world. My painting "Commedia Del Arte was the one that was picked for this big award. There will be an exhibition  held in Shropshire, England at the Lilleshall Hall, England May 16-29, 2022.

 

Finished!

Here it is! "Aphrodisiac" 40" x 60" watercolor on Arches paper. Not a roll but an actual sheet that came from an art supply store in NYC. Took me 2 months and a week to complete, sign and photograph. 

I have attached two close-ups to show some detail. I decided that the title is appropriate. The actual name of the plant, I do not know. It was something that caught my attention at Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. It is from the bromeliad family. If you know, please forward the information on.

On to the next!

Progress

I thought that you would like to see if I have done more work on my large painting. Yes, yes, I have done more work on it. Still not finished but getting closer and closer. I have an idea for the title of the painting but would love to get feedback from all my viewers. Leave a comment or email me. What do you think so far?

 

Women In Watercolor

 

HK Holbein sponsored an online exhibition this year for "Women in Watercolor". I had the honor of becoming a finalist in the exhibition! Another great honor to enjoy.

More Progress

 More colors! To date, this is where the painting stands. Still quite a bit more to do but I have been making remarkable progress. If anyone reading this blog know the name of this plant, please do send it to me. I believe it is in the bromeliad family.

Next Steps

 I am spending the month of August with the goal of painting almost every day. This studio opens into the outdoors facing the north so the lighting is great. I get fresh summer breezes and have been enjoying working on this large piece.  Here is the progress that I made and you will now see it developing. I am using Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton Watercolors on Arches paper.

The leaves of this plant were ablaze with colors.  Here is some of them that I have developed.

Large Size Watercolors

 What is the largest size watercolor that you have ever painted? For me the largest size was 30" x 40" or what is referred to as an elephant size. But I have changed that accomplishment. I have been harboring what is referred to as a double elephant size, 40" x 60" for about 3 years waiting for the right subject to come along. Well it came along and I am about to show you. Stage I is shown below.

After a trip to Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida I came across this colorful plant that I do not know the name of but was inspired to paint. Here is my set up in Studio II. Here is the beginning.

Sweden!!

 Sweden! I have had over a 1000 views from the Country of Sweden on my blog. Would love to hear from any of you. You can leave a comment and ask any questions.  

Channeling Cezanne

 Finished!

This watercolor was done on Kilimanjaro watercolor paper. I used Daniel Smith Watercolors and the size is 17" x 30".

More Progress

 As you can see from the previous posts, I have completed more work on painting. The material took more time to develop with its folds and shadows and print. I like working with draped cloth and this one was more challenging.  I wanted to accomplish a lighting effect of showing just a beam of sunlight coming in on the still life while the rest is in shadows. All I have to do now is to finish the background and also more shadows on the white table below.

Oranges and Lemon Progress

Thought I would share my progress. As you can see I have been working on the folds of the tablecloth. Here is a close-up of the folds. Some what challenging but at the same time kinda cool!

I worked on putting in a light wash to indicate where the shadows will be. At times, I sometimes like an unfinished painting to a finished one.

 

What my table looks like

 Sometimes it is interesting to see the layout of paints and brushes and palette of the artist. Here is mine.

Oranges and Lemons

 I have started a new painting. This one is a still life with my Italian ceramic and my peasant print tablecloth with a bunch of oranges and one single lemon. Here is a narrative of the painting started:

I started the painting with the oranges and lemon and then started to develop the ceramic.

Now you can see that the ceramic bowl was next.

I love to paint cloth that is wrinkled or folded like it is for this painting. Here is a close-up of some of the detail of this tablecloth. There is a lot of design to consider doing well.