7 posts tagged “watercolor”

Pearl Buck

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, email, texting, cell phones, Skype, hoaxes, cyber art... new technology surrounds us with tools, options, decisions and distractions.
The barrage is constant.
The only control available is in your head.
Choosing inspiration is a good start.
I have always found serenity, energy and clarity in the works of Joseph Raffael.
Enjoy a visual feast and respite and then:
Go to the studio and MAKE ART!

This quote made me laugh outloud. It's not self denigration, just humor.
I'm actually quite excited. I just FINALLY finished the coral reef image that is the introductory page for the children's book that Cynthia and I are working on. Now to proceed to the next step of contacting publishers.

Finally almost finished with the first illustration on a two year old project. Just too many things along the way that seemed more urgent. Feeling seriously guilty for not having already completed it, and seriously on task in the process of getting it done NOW, already!
Immersion into those clear, warm Caribbean waters over the past several winters has been fabulously replenishing, exciting, fascinating and rewarding. The painting seems so complicated, but it's NOTHING compared to the real thing.

Every now and then it's nice to harvest something tangible.
Picking peppers this morning in the garden... so luminously lovely and delicious to gaze upon. Firm and colorful.

A visible, direct product of hours of labor, from manure to tilling to weeding to harvest, and all the little steps in between.
Today I have been indulging in a Vermont Summer Day. That deserves capitalization. Low humidity, bright sun; an easy breeze sending mosquitoes to hover in the shadows.
The peppers are now sauteéd with leeks, also from the garden: fat, happy leeks that have loved all the rain we've suffered with this summer. And together they are frozen for winter soup.
The last two weeks have been consumed by teaching watercolor technique at Castleton College. The class was a mixed bag of ability, interest, commitment and age level. Ultimately  good work was done by all. It's a challenge to squeeze a semester into 10 days, but our final critique revealed strong growth.
A different sort of colorful harvest.

Now to the studio to work with a different sort of form and color in search of another harvest.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.       Margaret Meade

In 1879 a small group of thoughtful, committed artists gathered together to create the Copley Society.
Ever since, undoubtedly with much challenge through the years, it been a quality venue for exhibition for many artists. The society is named for John Singleton Copley, a renowned  American portrait and historical painter who was born in Boston in 1738 and died in England in 1815.

Recently renamed Co/So, the gallery is spacious and well presented. I am very pleased to become a member. The quality of the work is terrific, and the location is excellent: Newbury Street in Boston. I missed

the  opening because of the USVI Coral Reef course, but finally got down to Boston last weekend to see the exhibit.

It was a nice surprise was to see work by Sean Callahan hung next to mine. It's a small world, after all.  He is a wonderful watercolorist whose work I have admired for years. Sean lives in Vergennes, Vermont, not far from here. His studio is called "Dog Tired Studio."  His website is very impressive too. Sean's work captures the spirit of the creatures he paints, and yet maintains a painterly transparency and luminosity that is quite lovely.