9/18/2011

Just add water...

6



Somewhere in the back of my mind I had been harboring the idea of
sketching again with watercolors.
Too many uncountable years ago, I attempted this painting technique in art college
 and quickly put the judgement on myself that I'd failed miserably
(why do we do that to ourselves?)
so when I learned that Jane Voorhees was coming to visit our island locale
and
was going to offer a workshop on small format watercolor painting,
I knew that's where I wanted to be...


All those technical terms I'd forgotten!
Washes, wet in wet, dry brush, lifting off, dropping in color...
back again like old friends.
Made this little sampler (above) for future reference, added some marks
and remembered what I so loved about this medium of painting...
transparency.

I mentioned to Jane that these days, while working mainly with stitching and beads, 
I'd taken to the layering of silks - sheer silk - to achieve a similar transparency with cloth.
It was a definite "ah hah" kind of moment.


Jane has a killer smile...


and a very patient teaching style.


It was challenging to work directly from photographs...
how do you make the paint express what you're trying to say?
You have all the tools:  a selection of brushes, an extensive color palette for mixing,
the texture of good paper...
and the single most important ingredient,

water...

which seems to have a mind of its own.


What didn't I do in school that I want to do now?

LET
IT
FLOW

Thank you, Jane, for the very inspiring day...come back soon!

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To learn more about Jane and see her paintings, click here




6 comments:

  1. Letting it flow is much harder than it sounds. You're doing it beautifully here; keep it up :-)

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  2. Aaaah Christi, seems like the lot of you had a wonderful time!!!
    Like Karen says : letting it flow isn't that easy a lot of times... But keep on trying : you're doing great!

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  3. Oh you definitely have the talent and heart for this form of art. I love the concept of layering, especially in the almost ethereal form of water color. Letting it flow is something that has always been difficult for me - but I think I'm learning slowly but surely.

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  4. Isn't it great to re-connect with an old friend. I can feel your excitement in your writing...and know that you will have many more a-hah moments as you continue to blend your new self with your old love.

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  5. K @stitchinglife ~ definitely trying to go with the flow...agreed, very hard at times. Just add water? ;>}

    Thanks, friends, for all the kind words.

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  6. letting it flow
    going with the flow
    flowing in the flow
    simply flow
    exquisitely flow
    flow like a dream
    flow from within a spiral
    flow in faith
    trust flow

    ReplyDelete