Watercolor Sketches...

Island on Lake Panache

Sunflowers...Lake Panache

Canoe on Lake Panache

represent freedom to me.  Plans are discarded along with lofty goals.  No thoughts about exhibition entries or saleability.  Limited supplies.  Paint what you see.  Whew!  These sketches, all done on the spot were painted on a 7 x 10 watercolor block.  There were others.  These are the three more successful ones.  It actually took a day or two to find my "watercolor feet" again....to come to terms with the illusion of control and to avoid over-rendering.

They don't have to be perfect.  After all....they are just sketches.

Readers...

Ann Reading

make excellent models for sketching studies.  They are engaged in their own very private activity which, I find, allows for a relaxing and honest pose.  They move.  They fidget from time to time.  But I have found that they alternate between two and three positions repeatedly.  So the artist can reply by moving between a like number of sketches.  (two or three for the price of one!)  In this case, Ann is reading from her Kindle while stretched out in the bottom of a boat on a sunny afternoon.

Two people enjoying a grand afternoon.  What could be better?

Sketching...

K. reading and N. playing

is a wonderful way to spend time while you are seated on a dock...on the water...in the sunshine...on an island...in Ontario.  My travel suitcase of art supplies (which is always the first thing packed) includes:  a sketchbook and a variety of pencils; a kneaded eraser; a blending stump; a travel watercolor set with pan colors; some small brushes; a watercolor block 7 x 10; some toweling; and a cup for water.  Nothing grand....after all it is vacation.  My aims are not lofty...just capturing a moment or two of joy when family and friends congregate.  I spent each afternoon in creative contemplation and about half of the sketches and small paintings seemed successful.  My husband enjoys the overlapping of images on a single page, so I will try to do more of that next time.  This page features my daughter-in-law K. who is engrossed in a fine read and my son N. whose spare time always includes making music.  There is a harmonica around his neck and a tambourine under his left foot. 

Our hosts seemed always concerned that we were enjoying ourselves....as would as well.  Not to worry.  Time flies when you're having fun.

Ebb and Flow

Ebb and Flow   oil on canvas   12 x 36 x .75

Painting the incoming surf of the ocean is quite a challenge.  The still life is, well, still.  Models are still for short periods of time...with perhaps a twitch or two, or a relaxation of a limb or two, for the most part.  And, despite the movement of the sun and the interference of clouds, landscapes are generally given to status.  However, the ocean never rests.  Capturing this movement, to me, requires a study of the large rhythm involved, and as much understanding as possible, of an up-and-over movement....similar perhaps to the rise and fall of the folds of a quilt, but far less material.  I was inspired by the rowing paintings of Thomas Eakins, as well as an ocean work by my hero Alex Kanevsky.  This work was painted in a day.  Sure....I was tempted to have another pass, but knew full well that subsequent strokes would only solidify shapes, turning them into cement.  I have held off now for over two weeks and the obsession is now past.  Contemplation is good.

The ocean never sleeps.

Cooperative. Cooperation. Cooperate

It takes a fair amount of cooperation to build a drip castle....the movements of two or more individuals timed in a rhythmic way in order to avoid collisions.  The more beautiful the rhythms, the more creative the endeavors.  Same with driving, same with cooking......AND with creating an artist cooperative with 9 other artists! I read somewhere that musicians are terrific cooperators, as they are used to being one part of several in the grand orchestration.  Visual artists not so much, as their work is primarily solitary.  But we are putting our best collective feet forward and have been slowly ironing out the kinks.   Our gallery:  Group Ten.  Location:  138 Burbick Way in Kent, Ohio.  Hours:  Thursday-Sat noon to 5.  (this is temporary).  Grand opening:  September 13....mark your calendars!  Details to follow.  My fellow cooperators:  Ben Bassham; Debrah Butler; Jeff Fauser; Judy Gaiser; Fran Lehnert; Thompson Lehnert; Jance Lentz; Geoff Mowery; and John Smolko.

A collaborative effort to be sure.