Move beyond painting painstakingly literal representations of objects to creating dynamically designed abstracts that draw viewers across the room and express the essence of your subject matter! Capitalize on the use of quality watercolor paper, transparent watercolor pigments, and a bold, experimental attitude to produce unexpectedly fresh and powerful results. Achieve visual impact using granulation, […]
Any level with painting experience In the course of painting and studying, artists are often left with lots of promising or perplexing painting “starts”. For this workshop, participants are encouraged to bring an adventurous attitude and a number of unresolved paintings: realistic or abstract done in acrylic, collage or transparent watercolor. Rise will demonstrate a […]
It is great fun to explore abstract painting design using fluid acrylics and mediums on Strathmore Aquarius II paper, heavy watercolor paper or illustration/watercolor board. Painting will begin with experimental, exploratory play, engaging the artists’ creative capacities. Subsequent lessons and demonstrations will emphasize design principals to organize and edit the evolving paintings. Students are familiarized […]
Revel in a technique that produces artwork unique to your own creative voice! This workshop will be divided into two processes: The first process will be devoted to exploring the joys of painting unique translucent and opaque papers which will subsequently be layered into rich compositions during the remainder of the workshop. Simple color harmonies […]
Inspiration: The subject matter of this painting is actually the interior of the home my husband, Gary, and I built together. We raised our children and cared for our parents as they aged within those walls. Although I had always expected we would live there throughout our lives, at the time I painted “Light Moment” […]
Every summer Gary and I spend at least four days driving to and from Payette Lakes in McCall, Idaho. Instead of requesting a prescription sedative, I employ my digital camera equipped with a 300 mm telephoto lens with image stabilization. This combination works miraculously well when driving the speed limit and the windows are clean. […]
Inspiration: I find it visually fascinating to peer past the reflective and refractive surface of water and seek to identify the objects resting beneath as they flicker, distort and sometimes briefly disappear altogether. If they are brought to the surface and allowed to dry, the items often appear lifeless only to regain their elusive beauty […]
Inspiration: Liquid subject matter rendered in transparent watercolor is challenging but also a perfect synergy of subject and technique This painting has a modern component, which has only recently become available. Daniel Smith Primatek Watercolors are pigmented by finely ground colored rock sourced from specific locations across the globe. The paint drifts down a water […]
Given a choice between a trip to the mall with a purse full of green or a trip to the tide pools with a fully charged digital camera, I’ll opt for the latter every time. As a resident of landlocked northern Idaho, I took every opportunity to explore the Oregon coast. Now that I live […]
Surrounded by mountains and fed by tumbling rivers, Payette Lake, in central Idaho, has attracted an influx of luxury vacation homes and yet, the remote location serves to shield it from destruction by those of us who would love it to death. My husband’s family has held a foothold on its shore for seventy years […]
The San Diego Watercolor Society organizes five opportunities to paint as a group on location every month. In 2010, I had the wonderful good fortune to demonstrate and provide the critique for SDWS when we visited Stephenie Caughlin’s Seabreeze Organic Farm. The business offers both subscription delivery service of produce grown by her operation and […]
Inspiration: An experimental conversation between the painting surface and me began with loose applications of acrylics, intermittently scraped back to reveal previous layers through the wet paint. My artist’s eye liked the beginning, but the dialogue trailed away leaving me with just a pretty piece of paper. And so we sat for years like a […]
Inspiration: Renditions of light, transparency, translucence and reflection are where transparent watercolor shines above all other mediums. Artists often use floral paintings to exhibit their skill in rendering these delicate qualities, but many jurors feel that the subject matter has become cliché and few flower paintings are selected for national juried exhibitions. I was searching […]
Some folks claim there are no seasons in San Diego, but I would beg to differ. When most of the country is hoping for a sign of spring, it is Garden Tour Season here. Many artists feel a periodic need for renewal and it is easy to find inspiration when the buds are bursting and […]
Plein Air enthusiasts enjoy unlimited opportunities in San Diego, the capital for transparent watercolorists, also known as “white paper painters”. The San Diego Watercolor Society sponsors up to five monthly group painting events at locations all over the county. As many as forty artists might participate at any venue. As a demonstrator, I chose Mission […]