The Luxury of a Day of Play

I can't remember last time I took off a day, just to go paint and play with a friend. A dear lady, who'd taken several private lessons with me (yes, she was the one to witness the "crime scene" of previous post) and we found we had so much in common ~ we could launch a painting day together. She has a home on the far east side of Medford which affords vast views looking across the valley and she suggested I come there to paint. When she offered the kindness of lunch too, it was an easy "yes, when should I be there?"

I arrived around 9:30 and hiked over to the viewpoint Robin had envisioned for our paint site. On the far left was Roxy Ann Winery, undulating hills and alternating fields of various colors and textures. We got settled and I started off with the sky, leaving whispers of white clouds to accent the distant hills. Robin worked on a closer view of the fields - a heaven of greens.

Morning turned into afternoon and we packed up to head back to her house. She'd prepared a variety of delicious samplings: Zucchini/Tomato Torte, Garbonza Bean/Carrot/Olive Salad (my fav) and then, for dessert, watermelon balls with mint. I was STUFFED (you know I usually have just a yogurt for lunch?) and couldn't move ~ so relished her offer of poking thru several of her favorite journaling & reflection books. I could have stayed longer had her husband not returned home :)

But it reminded me how recharging just taking a day off to simulate and relax your spirit with friends and food can be. I can't recommend it highly enough!!! Thank you, Robin!

Journal Version of Recent Trip

My goal today was to complete this final double spread page in my journal, the last enty into this journal which began on 7-21-09, nearly a full years worth of life. Those of you who caught the previous version of my "photo" version of the trip to San Jose will, sorry to say, see some replications. But I thought you might enjoy seeing the watercolor translations into my journal.

Of course, we start with the amazing vision of Mt. Shasta. I love how watercolor depicts clouds, with that heavenly transparency that only transparent pigment can. I've added some white wax crayons for edges of the clouds and it simplifies the process when I'm painting - don't have to be concerned with my white edges so much.

Next is the completed version of my two dear friends at the restaurant table. I'm totally happy with the portrait on the left and finally, with Floy on the right. I had to shorten her chin abit, and nip off the tip of her nose, to make it more delicate. Check out the in-progress version of this twosome on March 21st blog post.

And the memory I most wanted to capture for my hike at Uvas Park was one of the glistening creeks. I loved the small, intimate cascade into this pool with the ferns softening the edges of the pool and the image. I'm fairly pleased with this image.

I'm asking for input on the presentation of the final page. As you know I'm not the happiest with my Micron pens right now. They just wear down so quickly on this watercolor paper - so on this page, I've tried out the Ultra Fine Tip Sharpie. Yes, it was consistent with the same amount of ink BUT, the thing I didn't like was that even with the Ultra Fine tip, I still got a real heavy text. I'm unhappy with the overall final full 2 page spread. I really want the images to have the strongest presentation in my journals. But, to me, now this page has strong text that battles with the images for priority. Hey, it could just be me. But . . . I'd love to hear your ideas and opinions.

But, just keep creating and experimenting . . . life continues to be full of lesson, artistic and spiritually. Trust the process!

The Honor of being "Featured Artist"

If you're an artist intent upon this creative field as a career, you will come to appreciate your collegues. These "students in the world of art" travel many a common road by our sides, some as invaluable supports, others strengthing from different positions. Where I cultivated Fine Art career in the Bay Area, there is more than a handful of absolutely amazing women artists who have remained nestled close to my heart (and in some cases) and paintbrush.

One of these such women, Chris Beck, an accomplished watercolor artist( http://chrisbeckstudio.blogspot.com/). And although she has remained in the Bay Area, we have stayed in communication via the email. I check out her web updates and she has followed my new travels here in Oregon.

As in most of our careers, things evolve and Chris recently decided to leave a gallery committment and venture into other realms of her continuing creative career. One of the self-less projects was to start a rotating blog site where Watercolor is the star of this blog -- an attempt to show the range of this vibrant medium through the work of many wonderful painters. It will feature mostly artists working in traditional transparent watercolor. She may issue an occasional "wild card" so she can include artists using other watermedia in a fluid manner but will post a new artist each week.

She has so honored me, by featuring several pieces of my work along with a brief bio listing some accomplishments. So I hope you will pay her tribute by dropping by this site now, to check out my entry http://brush-paper-water.blogspot.com/, but also later on. Just to relish some pretty proficient creatives.

Many thanks again Chris, for selecting me along your artist path. It is an honor and a blessing to be an artist. I wouldn't trade the way I see the world for anything - well, maybe for spiritual enlightenment. Yes, that's a prayer of sorts . . .