Saturday, April 22, 2017

John Salminen Workshop


I took a workshop several years ago with John Salminen.  I haven't thought much about it until recently when I had a conversation with David Daniels, my watercolor teacher at Smithsonian Associates. What we discussed was the differnece between Salminen's amaszing urban landscapes and the content of the workshop, which was focussed on abstract composition. Above is the painting I completed in the workshop.  Salminen led us through an interesting process. We did several drawings of common objects and then superimposed them on each other for rhe compositon.  The paintings we worked on are full sheet watercolor, so they are complex. As we worked, we left a large area white.  The idea, as I remember it, was to introduce color in a gradation so that the darkest areas would be toward the edge.  In this workshop, we also used small collaged scraps and some black paint, including the lines.  I nalso loved the use of glazing in various areas.  When I came home, I continued to explore this process, and made a few more paintings.




I may return to this proscess though, of course, I will have my own take on it...there is something to be learned about making an effective composition.  I am still learning!  I think it is my biggest challenge.


Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Palouse River



This is my most recent painting.  It is a view of the Palouse River.  Everyone who has been there will remember this site.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Buty Winery inspiration


At Christmas, my grandson Griffin gave me a bottle of wine from the local wine shop, DCanter.   I made my usual "thank you card" based on the wine label.  I also filed away a thought to make a bigger painting.  This is it, but I modified it to make what is the logo and is yellow into an orange "orb"--maybe moon? maybe sun? maybe Mars?   I also took "liberties" with the sky and made it yellow.  Well, I do have an artistic license!   The winemaker is "Buty" and they are in Washington state.  Here's a picture of the bottle of wine and the actual label.


Size is still not that big...it is 9" x 12"