A Place on the Pond

This is a piece that I did as an example for my waterlily workshop last Saturday. I really liked it but thought that it needed a couple of changes to really work. I darkened the blue on the bottom right and added the lighter blue at the upper left and changed some of the colors in the flower and added more orange to the center. These were just small changes but I feel that they made all the difference! It's amazing how sometimes just a little change make a BIG difference!

"A Place on the Pond" • Original acrylic on 1.5" wrapped and stretched canvas, painting and design continue on the sides • 4" x 4"

If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Spring in the Wisteria

This is a painting the I've been working on in bits for the past week. I started by squirting paint directly from the tube onto the paper. Using a spritzer and brush I moved the paint around on the paper. Paint straight out of the tube is very vibrant and strong and mixed really beautifully. When I thought I had interesting colors and shapes I let the piece dry. Next I defined the flower shapes and painted in the bird. My last step was brushwork with tinted gouache which is opaque and covers the watercolor. This piece has a lot of sparkle!

"Spring in the Wisteria" • Original watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper • 11" x 15"

If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Waterlily Workshop with Melissa Gannon

Today we painted waterlilies in acrylic. The emphasis was to use design and interesting colors. We worked from a photo of a single waterlily. We all really enjoyed the process. The paintings completed in this workshop are below. Thanks to all for allowing me to post your beautiful work!

Dancing Roses

I used a photo for this that I took last year. I was really trying to use impressionistic brushwork to suggest but not totally spell everything out. I also was trying for a lot of variety in the pinks and greens. I started this piece before Christmas and just finished!

"Dancing Roses" • Original acrylic on 3/4" wrap around stretched canvas • 5" x 7" • ready to hang

If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Magic in Purples & Greens

I've been painting wisteria lately. I have some lovely Daniel Smith purples and a new green and I wanted to use them all in a painting. This is at least my 5th or 6th wisteria painting and I'm working on another that's even larger.

This painting was created intuitively by squeezing color on the paper and washing it down in very loose washes. This is the fun part with no pressure, just lots of color! When the painting dries then comes the design. Where should the flowers be? Where should the leaves be? Is everything interesting? Does it work? This part of the painting process takes thought and confidence. The last step of this piece was the addition of tinted white gouache for the lovely sun sparkles. I'm very pleased with the result!

This piece is painted on a 1/2 sheet of Shizen paper that I tore instead of cut, so that the edge blends in with the other deckle edges. Since the paper is handmade it's not perfectly straight but it works well with a mat. The paper is rough press and the texture really adds to the piece.

"Magic in Purples & Greens" • Original watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper • 15" x 22"

If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Anticipating Spring in January

"Anticipating Spring in January" • Original watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper • 11" x 15"

I wanted to paint with purples and greens and wisteria is perfect for those colors! I started with a really loose wash, used saran wrap for texture and let everything dry. I added the darker shapes, lifted a bit for more lights and the last step was tinted gouache to create holes in the leaf patterns and lighten the bottom.

If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.