Nothing like a pending deadline to motivate an artist!

Fushia Delight

I am so excited to be participating in the Kings County Studio Tour this June 9th and 10th - http://www.studiotour-nb.com/  .  This means, of course, I have to be prepared.  Now I have been painting for quite awhile getting ready for a solo exhibit "Full Spectrum" to be hung at the Imperial Theatre the end of August this year.  So I have a lot of really large paintings completed for this.  The gap I have is for smaller pieces.

So what does any artist operating under self imposed deadlines do? Why I checked my framing inventory and, this time wrote the sizes down and went searching for subjects that would be fun to paint and coordinate with my three burgundy frames and two gold ones.

Two Beez

So far so good, I have two completed and the others are lightly drawn out.  There are more petunias, a different variety, pretty lillies (I have no idea which variety) and apple blossoms.  I will be ready for any color other than pink.  Oh, by the way, I have a large painting in progress - pretty pink peonies under way as well.  More to follow on this one -just likely not too soon!

A Few Old Fashioned Ladies....

Ah yes, another watercolor on Aquabord.  Finally think I am getting the hang of the surface! It is almost impossible to do multiple washes or layring on it - the under colour "lifts" or worse yet - mixes with the top wash.  And yet the finished painting is absolutely vibrant.

These pansies remind me of the old fashioned ones in every country garden I saw as a child, or the old china teacup with the delightful pansies on them - hence the paintings title.

So I link it, and once I figure out a framing solution - I will let you know if I intend to purchase more.  I still will admit, for any intricate and serious work, I will always use Arched 300lb cold pressed paper. 

Oh, by the way - I think they are "bluish" not so purple?

Finally finished the large Lilac painting! Phew!

I think there should be a drum roll with this.....

This was no small undertaking. I have been working on this piece for what seems like forever and a day.  What makes this piece interesting is that the more you look at it, the more dimentional it becomes!   I went through more paint imaginable on this - I guess this is typical of large works.  Always makes me marvel though.  Watercolours are seemilgly endless in thier supply until you take on a full sheet.

I am ready to retire the mauves... for at least another painting or three. I have already started an iris - shades of ivory, burgundy and a little bit of mauve.

More progress on the lilac painting

When I start working on a painting I have a clear vision of how it will turn out. Often what is missing from the vision is a line of sight into how long it will actually take me to develop the piece. This one of those kinds of paintings.


A full sheet watercolour in the level of detail I aspire to is time consuming - no way around it. It is clearly work. Knowing that I am almost always pulled in by the complexity of a subject. It has to be a challenge or I will not tackle it.

This painting is for all intent and purpose, a monochromatic work rendered in detail – and I think still painterly. I started with a good outline drawing and finessed and filled in as I went along. In the initial stages, a friend saw the work and asked me to do a similar piece as a commission. The hiccup was – there was a tight deadline and I would have to set aside the full sheet paining in order to make that deadline. Yes, more shades of lilac.

And so, I completed a smaller version called “Lavender Lilacs” for my friend. And then to return to this piece you are watching the progress of. At about the half way point I felt discouraged – as I normally do at this stage. The sheer amount of lilac I have been working with coupled with the desire to see more progress, well…..

And so now I see the progress and am re-excited (is that even a word?) by the work and am steadily working towards its completion. I have reverted back to singing and dancing as I work along – and hope to have it completed by August 7th. Fingers crossed. I will post when it is complete.