Pikes Peak Watercolor Society International Watermedia XVII acceptance!

I had some exciting news this afternoon. My painting of James's Grandpa "Finishing Touches" has been selected for inclusion in the Pikes Peak Watercolor Society International Watermedia XVII. The juror John Salminen received 494 works for consideration. Of these, 90 were selected for the exhibition.

The exhibition will be at the
Cottonwood Center for the Arts
427 E. Colorado Avenue
Colorado Springs
CO 80903

and runs from June 24 to July 23, 2011.

Ona

Positive feedback from Luminosity Show!

Its always nice to get feedback from exhibitions. I was very fortunate in that the juror of the BWS Luminosity show, Andrew Hamilton, left written feedback for some of the award winners. This is what he wrote about my painting 'Artist at work'

"Great use of the material to create depth and light on a portrait. Shows wonderful technical ability to capture an intimate portrait of an artist at work."

 

I also had some lovely feedback from visitors to the exhibition especially in respect to my other painting 'The Guardian of Ra'(the painting of the white cat below)

 There were some magnificent paintings in the exhibition. Congratulations to all the award winners!

I know I feel honoured not only to have won an award but also to have two of my paintings hanging in this gallery as it was once the home and studio of Frederick Varley, one of the founding members of the Canadian Group of 7.

Ona

Painting low key!

I'm having such fun exploring and stretching my techniques at the moment.

 I'm still refining my skills in gallery wrapping a watercolour. This time I used some foam core cut to size on top of the stretcher bars and then wrapped the stretched watercolour paper around both. It makes the painted surface far more sturdy both while you are working on it and once its finished. I still have to fix and varnish it but its looking promising. I'm getting to grips with the wrapping stage but It is definitely worth having a willing helper for a few extra hands.

This one has taken a bit longer than the last (about 7 hours) as I wanted to play with a low key effect. The black background is created with transparent watercolours (no black was used) Its actually about 10 glazes of different blues, both siennas, sepia and raw umber.

I took the photo from this angle so you can see that I have gallery wrapped the painting too. I ended up balancing the stretched frame on an upturned pot so I could work on the sides at the same time as the front of the painting to get a nice smooth wash over the whole area. I'm really pleased with the effect and it will certainly be an option that I offer to any future client requesting a commission. This painting, along with the painting of the baby are not for sale but will be used as examples of the effect that can be created in this style of presenting a watercolour.

Ona

Honourable Mention in BWS juried show!

 

I have just found out that my painting of Denis Keegan 'Artist at Work' has been awarded an 'honourable mention' in the Bayview Watercolour Society "Luminosity' juried show.  The exhibition opens tomorrow, 1pm at the McKay Art Gallery, Main Street, Unionville. It is an exhibition of smaller paintings (half sheet or less) in either watercolour, acrylic or mixed media. 

As I was selecting a couple of paintings to enter into the show I suddenly realised how few smaller paintings I have completed over the last year or so (Only two in fact not counting 'Rations' which sold at the CSPWS open water exhibition last fall and the tiny stretched canvas that I have just finished), most of my work now seems to be full sheet or larger. Its amazing how you just get used to painting a certain size. I think I will have to make an effort to paint some smaller ones too.

Ona

Gallery Wrapped Watercolour!

I've fixed and varnished the painting today. I'm pleased with the effect. Its certainly a different way of presenting a painting.

 

I hung it on our wall so you could see the effect. I used satin varnish to give the painting that slight sheen and to bring out the texture of the watercolour paper. Ideally I would put the painting in a floater frame for a bit more protection but I will have to get one cut to size as I didnt have one that would fit to hand.

Stretching the paper over canvas stretcher bars is certainly a technique I am going to continue to explore.

Painting babies

A local gallery has expressed an interest in using me for any portrait commissions. Last weekend I put together a portfolio of portrait examples and as I was doing so I realised that although I have examples of toddlers, young children, older children, adults and older people I havent ever painted a really young baby so this is a small 10 by 12 inch painting that I can use as an example. I think it might make a popular design for my greetings cards too.

I wanted the focus to be those huge wide eyes as the baby takes in all the new experiences that are around but also include those cute baby features, the button nose and toothless mouth. 

This is actually an experiment too because I pre-stretched the watercolour paper over stretcher bars and now the painting is done I am going to fix and varnish it. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Ona

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, We Love You!

Here is a photo of the finished painting. I added a couple more paint colours into the mix for the car to create a more vibrant, toy car yellow. I also increased the values of the darks on the car making it ours as well as the child's centre of interest. To me it just made the painting feel more intimate that way, making us the viewer part of the imaginative experience too. I hope you feel the same way.

Ona