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Purple Blossoms

First Purple Blossoms Appear

The first bright purple blossoms peek their heads out for me, as crocus planted last year along the driveway come up. All that work from the previous year rewards us with spring flowers, that I love. They are such welcome splashes of color after a period of cool grays. Pete and I took some pictures to allow me to come back in to the studio and paint them, instead of getting frosty outside. After all, the temperatures are not balmy yet.

I look up the name crocus and find that they are a part of the iris family. Really? Who would have thought that? Thank goodness for the ease of using Wikipedia, soon I will forget how to turn the pages of a dictionary.

Focus

Here is a deep artistic concept, check out these two photographs. They are a perfect example showing how a different "depth-of-field" or "focus" totally changes an image. It almost seems as though these two pictures were taken at different places, but they were not. Only the focal point changed. Clearly, where we choose to focus our attention is really important. Think about that all throughout your life. Where do you focus your attention?

The fleeting beauty of the crocus in early spring is a short term glance at the wonder of nature. Finding that crocus is part of the iris family kind of explains why I was drawn to them in the store last year. Since the first time I saw them, iris have been a favorite of mine. Their sturdiness, prolific qualities, combined with their limitless supply of color and combinations never cease to amaze me. If they are one of those bright flowers that give a wonderful perfume, that is even better. I will do plein air sketches from the blossoms and post them with pictures as things progress, in the next few days. In fact, my focus artistically is leaning heavy to plein air..... I confess.   Read the full article

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Riverfront Park's Clock Tower from Above

Plein Air Landscape

This is a view of the Riverfront Clock Tower from a bridge railing in Riverfront park. Looking from above the Washington Street viaduct with a constant flow of cars entering downtown underneath seemed almost surreal. This specific view is a cozy little oasis (off-the-beaten-path) with it's own cool bench. Virtually, a perfect place to set up water, brushes and paint to your hearts content with minimal interference from foot traffic. Initially, I was worried there would be no interesting views to paint at Riverfront park but I was proven so very wrong. I only had to open my eyes, to see great nature views, or people enjoying the nature views.

above the clock tower I am a member of the Spokane Watercolor Society, and we have a group of plein air painters meeting once a month on the last Friday of the month at high noon to paint together. If you'd like to join us feel free to contact us and let us know at our Facebook page Plein Air and Urban Sketching - Members of SWS. It is a monthly artist event that I look forward to every month. Fellow artists sharing ideas and methods and challenging each other to continue to improve. It is simply a lot of fun! I took some time to sketch the clock tower carefully before heading down to the riverside level. Subsequently, trying another view, nearer where the rest of the group was painting at next.

clock tower sketch Working from memories and pictures taken at the scene, I finished this painting back at the studio on 4/5/2019.

9"w x 12"h watercolor. Riverfront Park's Clock Tower from Above D2219     Read the full article

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SWS Member Art Show Opening

Last night was the Spokane Watercolor Society (SWS) art show opening downtown from 5-8pm. It was at the historic community lobby for the Inland Northwest Land Conservancy on Main Street. This is an in process shot of the piece I have in the show entitled "Crazy as a Loon" C1819.

loon watercolor in process I don't typically do well with the crowds and sometimes feel like I am just surviving through attending an art show opening but, last night was different.

MaryLou, Lottie, Locklin, Jeff and Gloria. We are 20 watercolor artist's that have paintings hanging for the month in the lobby of the Community Building. Everyone in SWS sent out postcard invitations to our people to support the show opening on First Friday. I made it a point to only send my invitations to people I would like to see this time. Normally, I try to guess who may want to buy art, if I know people who would. But instead, this time my focus was on family and friends that I miss.

Cousins, Suzanne and Martha. I  honestly didn't expect anyone to show up because I know how hard it is to make time to go downtown and attend these events. But I was entirely surprised by who took the time, to be there last night. I am so very lucky to have family and friends in my life like I do. Some of the people I contacted called to let me know they couldn't make it, and then there were those who did come. This was a show opening that went by quickly, and was a lot of fun. 

Jeff and Gloria Reise with their little Locklin. I was taking pictures and seeing that we were a roomful of people who appreciate creative arts, loving the exploration of all the art hanging and making purchases of the smaller originals on display. Many people participated in voting for the "Peoples Choice" award and the entire evening was a very positive gathering all together. Lots of positive inspiration abounded and it feels like art is really an integral part of life. My time is not wasted in this endeavor.  I am looking forward to the next show. Read the full article

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Plein Air painting at Riverfront Park

clock tower Spent the afternoon (Friday) plein air painting at Riverfront Park in Spokane WA.Painting outside in a beautiful park with friends. We were a group from the Spokane Watercolor Society who met near the clock tower at high noon. Sounds like the meet up at the OK corral doesn't it?  It is amazing how many people use this park, it was full of people. They were a constant stream of people running, walking dogs, sitting and admiring the scenery.

Plein Air Off the Beaten Path

I was able to discover a great view of the tower a little off the beaten path, and overhead. It was truly sublime. Initially, trying to render that clock tower in an impressionistic manner proved impossible. Paintbrush sketches produced awkward, leaning towers. There are so many angles and doo-dads on that riverside brick tower with a clock. As a result, another tactic was required. Architectural subjects need accuracy, don't they? Finally, resorting to using the old artist pencil measure trick with outstretched arm, got the job done.  It was worth it to take the time to do that sketch. The layout is in pencil now, and ready to work on in the studio. I took a ton of photos, to be able to finish it up.

clock tower sketch

Second Painting Location

pavilion willow photo

pavilion with willow I joined the gang from SWS at the ground level down by the river next. Next to Gay W., I found a great view of the pavilion cables over the ice rink, that had a willow tree getting orange branches in spring. What a vision. Hope it comes out, cause it was quite a cool view. Luckily, I was able to get some washes down before I had to pack up and leave.

Artist Thoughts...

Unfortunately, there was a man playing the bongos next to the river. I kept thinking, he needs to get some other musicians to sing and play instruments with him to break up the monotony. The "bong, bong, bong" started to get on my nerves later in the afternoon, so, I cut the outing short. While spending the day in that beautiful riverside park I noticed a sad thing. There were couples and friends sitting or walking together, not looking at each other or the view, but instead looking at their phones. What is with that? Going to a beautiful park, to walk and sit next to the river with beautiful waterfalls cascading all around. Then choosing to enter into oblivion? Are we loosing our humanity by getting together, to ignore each other and nature's beauty around us?  As a society, are we so addicted to "blue screen" time that we miss important things? In conclusion, this Friday painting day outside in the warm air was a beautiful nature wonderful "artist date"! Read the full article

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Spring has sprung

You know Spring has sprung in Elk when getting to and from becomes an adventure in mud. Some pictures of the driveway bog.

driveway stream

driveway mud

made it! Now is the time that I thank my lucky stars for the Subaru! Thank you! Thank You! It is an adventure to drive to town once a week right now. Deliveries HA HA HA! Read the full article

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MUD season

Garden Spring Mud 2019

Mud

Followed by mud, and more mud is the weather prediction for today. I walked down to the garden and can now see patches of ground peeking through the snow. This is the blackberry row and the apple trees on the lower end. How long do you think it will be before we can plant? Hello Spring! Melt down has begun, with the introduction of warmer temperatures.  I know it is practically ridiculous of me to complain when so many are losing everything, farm and ranch to intense flooding across the midwest but.... my little self still wants to moan and say, It's a pain; GOOSHY knee deep mud! As the snow starts to melt into a much thinner level each day, little rivers trickle down the hill. Trickle, trickle into natural bog areas. Out of necessity, each town trip becomes a journey put off to the last minute and combined with others to decrease the amount of times up and down the hill. Each rut made becomes it's own little stream.

Things Are Serious

When, getting up the driveway involves real work for the Subaru and chains are needed on the tractor.... Propane delivery is impossible. UPS walks up the driveway to deliver an important package. The dog smiles walking in with brown legs instead of white. You realize your whole house is now a mud room. So, why clean? It's funny, this happens every year for half a month or a whole month. I think, man we got to buy truckloads of gravel and fix this. But, that gets put off later when the roads allow heavy trucks on the road again. I've got an idea, maybe I should contact the Spokane Wastewater Management people and ask them to help take care of this problem for us. We are only 38 miles from the city, that should be an easy fix for them, you think? Or, is it just not a good idea to ever involve the authorities in solving real life issues? Our taxes are high enough already with no services. Un Huh. The painter in me still loves the promise of those great bright greens, as things beginning to spring up next! Check out last years post. We have little starts planted all around the house getting ready to put the garden in below, when we quit sinking into middle earth with every step. Read the full article

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Muley Doe... a Deer a Female Deer

A muley doe pauses at the treeline in Glacier Lake National Park in Montana. This was one of my first encounters with wildlife. Moments like this are like gifts from God and nature. A gift of pristine wildlife standing still for a portrait at very close range.

Initially, the portrait starts with a pencil sketch drawn from my photograph.

Apply Washes to Doe

Next I begin to wash-in large areas, reaching more for correct values than finished colors. I actually squint my eyes to see where the darks and lights are. The areas kind of blur together and show up better that way. I have been fortunate to have taken classes from talented artists, and one that I have been inspired by is Stan Miller who teaches watercolor and that it is the values that are more important than the colors and he is so right!

Adding sky background and foliage along with some of the dark values to the doe face and eyes starts to show the personality that I envision.

Muley Doe Details

Things slow a bit as I work on the details of the deer. Focus is on the doe features and her background and I am being careful to leave white limbs from the tree behind.

Progress is gradual as I add shadows to show where the tree trunk and limbs are, along with a ground tone wash to bring in a base for her to stand on. It is not good to have her floating above the ground.

Finally, I am getting more done as I add more details. First, some lights followed by some darks. Using an Azo Yellow, I am careful applying the final wash. The whole painting is brightened up with the final wash and the greenery and her fur now have a much better glow.

Muley Doe C192019 - 9"w x 12"h watercolor Here she is, je suis fini! A watercolor painting of a Glacier Lake National Park Muley Doe posing for the artist with her camera in the summer of 1990. Check out the beauty in this park. The picture was taken in the park at the top of Logan pass.   Read the full article

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First Friday SWS Show Opens

On First Friday, the SWS member show opens, want an invitation? The Show Opening Reception promises to be a lot of fun. Only then, we will have original small paintings and cards for sale at the Inland NW Land Conservancy Lobby .

Would You Like to Come?

In the next day or two I have a dozen SWS Member Show invitation cards to send out. If you would like one just text or email me and I'll be sure to send you one. I've seen some of the work that is going to be there. We promise absolutely great art to enjoy by the talented watercolorists in Spokane WA! Believe me, we have an abundance of talent in our region of the United States! Check out the Spokane Watercolor Society website for any information you need on the show. Come meet the artists! and enjoy a night out downtown in Spokane WA. Read the full article

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Dahlia Patch Done

Dahlia Patch C142019, 30"w x 10"h watercolor on 300lb WC paper. Just finished painting the flowers in Dahlia Patch C142019 watercolor. I am loving it and planning to paint more like her. I saved seeds from my 6-8' blossoms last year and plant to well populate the garden with them again. So bright and beautiful to see when you work in the garden every day. Weeding and watering seem less tiresome when your eyes feast on beautiful combinations of color and fascinating insects and birds cruising around. There is only a few more weeks of skiing left, and I'm looking forward to spring and summer now. Check out how many kinds of Dahlia's there are, 42 species and it is native to Mexico. Did you know it was declared the national flower of Mexico in 1963? Good old Wikipedia dahlia knowledge, interesting but hard to remember the scientific names sometimes.

What do you think of dahlia patch?

It took some time to get the details all in. It was funny but as I added details, I'd notice another missing detail in an area I thought I had already finished. Add a shadow here, oooh a highlight there and a half a leaf here. That petal looks weird, it needs a shadow under it too. You can see the progress in one day by looking back at yesterdays article about this painting. Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows! Another unfinished is now in the finished pile and it feels great. At the meeting (Spokane Watercolor Society) the other night a fellow artist shared that she was going to either finish or throw away the paintings in her studio. Boing!!! That hit me square in the face. I have so many unfinished paintings laying around my studio, so I plan on making an effort to do that. No more unfinished stacks in my life. Read the full article

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Beautiful Flowers Blooming

Dahlia Patch 30"w x 10"h watercolor on 300lb WC paper I was fortunate to have beautiful flowers blooming all summer in my garden this past year. I grabbed this painting from my "unfinished painting stack" tonight. This is not the first time to paint this Dahlia image. My previous attempt became all overworked and mucky, actually loosing itself in the background, until I simply gave it up to turn the paper over, and try it again. See previous posts about my first attempt here.  I wonder how many two sided paintings have I sold in my life? Doing bright colored flowers of any variety is so cool. This painting has a new type of background technique that is different and a little scary for me. Trying for a looser and softer background. One that will let us see the petals of the flowers without distraction. Blossoms with petals and all their curves, shadows... I am beginning to really like this one now. Let me know what you think, so far. This week was full of  stressful work like taxes, paperwork and illustration assignments. But, today was a great relaxing break to just paint. I worked on completing my painting for the Spokane Watercolor Society Member Show.  It feels good to paint things that I like all day.  Read the full article

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Walk in First Snow Through the Woods

Almost every day, I get to see scenes like this as I walk outside the studio. My camera is a real happy camper. Luckily, I captured this picture during the first snow of the season. There was a small accumulation of snow and the day was warm. Sometimes, it feels like I live in paradise with the nature right around me. There are tracks from our neighbors who had just ridden their ATV's through it. There are a lot of Bambi tracks and Gobble Gobble turkey tracks too! Max and I are not the only ones enjoying this area. We all love the outside up here in Elk, WA.  Our neighborhood is the one that started the, "You might be a redneck if......" craze. Checkout Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian here. My goal right now is to conquer a fear of painting snow and get good at painting winter scenes. I figure the more I paint, the easier it will get. Hmmmm. We'll see.

Here is the first study I painted of this view, as a horizontal presentation. After finishing the study, I am able to see areas to improve. Standing back a way gives me a good view to ponder how I want to proceed with the larger painting.  I'm not so sure I will go with horizontal, I think I like the vertical better.

Watercolor study complete for horizontal layout. I will try a vertical layout next. Read the full article

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Walk in First Snow Through the Woods

Almost every day, I get to see scenes like this as I walk outside the studio. My camera is a real happy camper. Luckily, I captured this picture during the first snow of the season. There was a small accumulation of snow and the day was warm. Sometimes, it feels like I live in paradise with the nature right around me. There are tracks from our neighbors who had just ridden their ATV's through it. There are a lot of Bambi tracks and Gobble Gobble turkey tracks too! Max and I are not the only ones enjoying this area. We all love the outside up here in Elk, WA.  Our neighborhood is the one that started the, "You might be a redneck if......" craze. Checkout Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian here. My goal right now is to conquer a fear of painting snow and get good at painting winter scenes. I figure the more I paint, the easier it will get. Hmmmm. We'll see.

Here is the first study I painted of this view, as a horizontal presentation. After finishing the study, I am able to see areas to improve. Standing back a way gives me a good view to ponder how I want to proceed with the larger painting.  I'm not so sure I will go with horizontal, I think I like the vertical better.

Watercolor study complete for horizontal layout. I will try a vertical layout next. Read the full article

[artistcolour]

Walk in First Snow Through the Woods

Almost every day, I get to see scenes like this as I walk outside the studio. My camera is a real happy camper. Luckily, I captured this picture during the first snow of the season. There was a small accumulation of snow and the day was warm. Sometimes, it feels like I live in paradise with the nature right around me. There are tracks from our neighbors who had just ridden their ATV's through it. There are a lot of Bambi tracks and Gobble Gobble turkey tracks too! Max and I are not the only ones enjoying this area. We all love the outside up here in Elk, WA.  Our neighborhood is the one that started the, "You might be a redneck if......" craze. Checkout Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian here. My goal right now is to conquer a fear of painting snow and get good at painting winter scenes. I figure the more I paint, the easier it will get. Hmmmm. We'll see.

Here is the first study I painted of this view, as a horizontal presentation. After finishing the study, I am able to see areas to improve. Standing back a way gives me a good view to ponder how I want to proceed with the larger painting.  I'm not so sure I will go with horizontal, I think I like the vertical better.

Watercolor study complete for horizontal layout. I will try a vertical layout next. Read the full article

[artistcolour]

Walk in First Snow Through the Woods

Almost every day, I get to see scenes like this as I walk outside the studio. My camera is a real happy camper. Luckily, I captured this picture during the first snow of the season. There was a small accumulation of snow and the day was warm. Sometimes, it feels like I live in paradise with the nature right around me. There are tracks from our neighbors who had just ridden their ATV's through it. There are a lot of Bambi tracks and Gobble Gobble turkey tracks too! Max and I are not the only ones enjoying this area. We all love the outside up here in Elk, WA.  Our neighborhood is the one that started the, "You might be a redneck if......" craze. Checkout Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian here. My goal right now is to conquer a fear of painting snow and get good at painting winter scenes. I figure the more I paint, the easier it will get. Hmmmm. We'll see.

Here is the first study I painted of this view, as a horizontal presentation. After finishing the study, I am able to see areas to improve. Standing back a way gives me a good view to ponder how I want to proceed with the larger painting.  I'm not so sure I will go with horizontal, I think I like the vertical better.

Watercolor study complete for horizontal layout. I will try a vertical layout next. Read the full article

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Snowy fenceposts watercolor

It is still snowing up here in Elk WA, and I finished this piece last night.

Snowy Field Fencposts E132019 7x10 watercolor on 140lb paper Snowy Field Fenceposts E132019, a chilly 7"w x 10"h watercolor on 140lb wc paper. Painting this chilly scene is a new technique for this artist. The finishing touch was the foggy tree on the horizon. Isn't it cool how the winter mists hides things in the distance? Let me know how this feels to you. If you knew me you would really understand why snow scenery is so foreign to me in my watercolors. Winter scenery is my new mission and more images are on the studio surfaces as I type this out. It is the first snowy scene I've painted and was satisfied with when finished. This is the result of attending a weekend workshop with master, Stan Miller at Spokane Art Supply.  Read the full article

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Snowy fenceposts watercolor

It is still snowing up here in Elk WA, and I finished this piece last night.

Snowy Field Fencposts E132019 7x10 watercolor on 140lb paper Snowy Field Fenceposts E132019, a chilly 7"w x 10"h watercolor on 140lb wc paper. Painting this chilly scene is a new technique for this artist. The finishing touch was the foggy tree on the horizon. Isn't it cool how the winter mists hides things in the distance? Let me know how this feels to you. If you knew me you would really understand why snow scenery is so foreign to me in my watercolors. Winter scenery is my new mission and more images are on the studio surfaces as I type this out. It is the first snowy scene I've painted and was satisfied with when finished. This is the result of attending a weekend workshop with master, Stan Miller at Spokane Art Supply.  Read the full article

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Snow and fun landscapes

Snow and fun winter landscapes, is quite a normal sequence of terms for this skiier. We are a household of ski and snowboard bums that love that white stuff. We have fun! Winter is fun!

Winter fencepost, done in Stan Miller's workshop at Spokane Art Supply in Spokane Wa.  A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to be able to attend a weekend workshop with Stan Miller. He is a phenomenal master painter, who I have had the privilege of knowing over the years. A wonderful artist and person. The subject was winter water, skies and snow in watercolor. As always, having an opportunity to spend some time with a small group learning from a "master" really brings things up a notch in a painters world. Above, is an unfinished exercise from the workshop. Unfinished, but still quite an inspiration to me. Snow is something I have always loved. Unfortunately, it is a subject that has simply baffled me whenever I try to paint it. Fortunately, Stan Miller is an amazing teacher and has been able to open up a whole new world for me with what he showed during that weekend workshop at Spokane Art Supply . With this fencepost painting, I was able to get "what I see" in a snow scene... down on the paper. Success, is such an inspiration. A person who paints a 1,000 paintings stands a better chance of producing more great masterpieces... It is about time, I record the fun and the gorgeous sights we see all winter long. This artist is on a mission! Read the full article