Watercolor & Pastels

Below are small paintings that are watercolors embellished with pastel.  Each is matted to 8" x 10"

Edge of the Field

Sunflower

Poppy Please

Seaside Fence

Path to Yosemite

Fall on the Marsh in bright gold and soft blue 

Cottage by the sea is soft and gentle for Irish memories.  

Shore Marsh is almost abstract with its strong patterns of color.  

Front Street Cafe Gallery Show

My paintings are on display at the Front Street Cafe in New Richmond, Ohio.

This delightful and  quaint cafe set along the banks of the Ohio River in the historic village of New Richmond, Ohio, the Front Street Cafe offers lunch, dinner and soon...wine tasting.

Located just off U.S. 52 in southern Ohio, the address is 120 Front Street 45157.  

Phone: 513-553-4800

Web site: www.frontstcafe.com

 Here is the photo of the flower cart on Front Street

 and here is the painting--a fun and colorful interpretation!

 Outdoor festivals dot the summer schedule in New Richmond.  This photo of a band at the park along side the Ohio River generated

this painting "Drummer Boyz".  See the river in the background and the trees on the Kentucky side? (SOLD)

More paintings are in the cafe through mid October.  Others are some of my favorite including "Blue Ridge #3 and #4" plus the unusual "Sunset Layers."  All are for sale, of course.

www.frontstcafe.com

Asian Peonies

"Asian Peonies" are so titled because the design being off-centered suggests an Asian look.  The peonies again came from my garden and the round vase is from an arrangement of flowers that my daughter sent to me on Mother's Day.  This is another in the series that begins with a totally wet paper with color dropped in and left to dry. After it dried, I studied it for quite a while to determine the placement of the vases as there was only one vase in the original arrangement.  I used lots of water and strong color contrast to make a splash with this painting.  Watercolor is so much fun to use if I let it be.  The fluid blending of color is what makes it incredibly soft and beautiful.

Magnolias

These magnolias are growing in my back yard garden.  Although they are actually white, I preferred to generate contrasting colors on a blue/purple background.  Again I wet the paper and dropped in color.  After it dried I studied it at length before deciding to pursue the magnolia sketch design.  Lots of water with mingling shades of pink, magenta and yellow created the flowers with chrome green and indigo dropped in the carve out the shapes of the petals.  Although not totally realistic, this is a vibrant painting that gave me a great deal of satisfaction to paint.

Petunia Basket

"Petunia Basket" captures the vibrancy of flowers that I have hanging on a fence next to my patio.  It started as brushes of color on a totally wet piece of paper.  Then, with both positive and negative painting, the shapes emerged.  I plan to frame and hang this painting on my front porch.

I had such fun carving shapes out of random patches of color that I have caught the fever to do even more.

Easter Cards

 This is an Easter greeting card inspired by the collage of Romare Bearden.

Each card is collaged on to heavy weight watercolor paper which is 5" x 7" (finished sized).

The background on each card was painted before adhering the eggs and edges of eggs.

Romare Bearden was a contemporary artist famous for his portrayal of life in African American communities.  I watched a documentary about him and decided to try making some small collaged card.

The paper for the eggs came from art magazines so each egg is from a masterpiece but now decidedly different!

Here is a shot of my art table with the "debris" of collage art.

Christmas Hemlock Card

This is the photo of the scarf that was the basis for the color selection for the Hemlock Painting, below.  I did this as part of a color exercise while taking a mixed media class.  We were to choose a favorite object, or clothing or anything.  Then, replicate the colors in a painting.

This Hemlock Painting uses the colors of the scarf.  Quite a lot of experimentation went into finding the right combination of watercolors to approximate the colors of the scarf.  

The painting technique relies on negative painting to get a highly textured result.

I painted this on a quarter size sheet of Arches Paper (11" x 15").

This is the Christmas card that I had printed by Vista Print.  I selected the card imagery from many, many choices.  Then I uploaded a digital image of my painting into the white space provided. I also created the inside of the card and the back (not shown here).

Then after using the painting for my Christmas card, I framed it and hung it on the front porch in a sheltered corner out of sun and rain.  I will leave it there until spring, I think.  Then, I will find another painting to use in the same spot.  I have done this before and had no problem with weather damage--didn't even get spider nests on the back!