Learning to play all of the notes

Nest Basket   watercolor/watercolor pencil   9.5 x 10

For me, painting is much like music. My favorite musicians play in a variety of styles to create different moods and lots of interest.....in other words, they seem to avoid formula music. I want my work to be like that. I want to play soft notes, as well as loud powerful ones. My usual hand is a heavy one..........I guess a bit bold.........so I am always attempting to lighten my hand when called for. My first attempt at a basket full of eggs is strong, using dramatic value shifts and line work at the end. I wasn't satisfied in that I got rather lost in all of the grasses and weeds. I wasn't certain that my treatment was appropriate for the subject. A bit distressing.

Perfect or Cracked?

Cracked   watercolor   9 x 13.5

I think that we have all seen shoppers opening up cartons of eggs to check for cracks. I am one. After all, the cracks allow bacteria to enter the egg. The oozy yolk sometimes causes the egg to stick in the carton rendering it useless. Who wants to pay for an imperfect egg?

Art is yet another matter. I have always found the imperfect things in our world to be far more interesting. In class, we tackled egg cartons.....despite their seeming simplicity, they are so very complex in their two-point -perspective and their construction. Imperfect things seem to suspend the status quo of daily living, adding spice. They shake it up. I love imperfect things. "Cracked" is the resultant painting.