Magical Thailand

Here are a number of small watercolors I did on site at various temples and ancient ruins in Thailand when I was a visiting professor there in 2011.  These works were seen first in a solo exhibition at Quincy University shortly after I returned. In June, 2012, I showed them at Main Gallery 404 in downtown Bloomington.

Thailand is magical.  Buddhist statues, especially from the Sukothai era, are profoundly beautiful.
A colleage, Pimol, took me to a special locak temple with a particularly beautiful Sukothai Buddha statue.  The temple was not on the tourist route, rather, it was an important local temple.  I painted the Buddha there for two days.  I was pleased to see that the monks of the temple noted my discipline, painting for hours on my knees in the temple.  We spoke and I gave one of the monks one of my small paintings.  These are treasured moments and nothing we do alone in our studios compares to painting or drawing on site and having interactions such as these.

Teaching a watercolor workshop at the 
Southern Illinois Art Workshop in May

Upon request from students, I demonstrated how to paint a rose.

This three-day workshop focused on understanding color and color mixing. Boy, did I have a great and savvy group of dedicated painters, coming to SIAW from the borders of Indiana to the borders of Missouri!  During the workshop, several students admitted to being confused by what different workshop instructors suggest about color and different colors of paint to buy. I completely understand their concerns and confusion!  

Understanding color is not about following someone's pet palette of colors, or trying out some of the new, appealing colors, fun that it is to try out new colors.  It is about the basics: understanding triads, cools and warms and specific qualities (properties) of each color.

For example, to experiment and show the class about specific qualities of each color, I chose Opera pink for the pink blush for this quick rose demonstration. Opera pink sunk right into the paper, being a quinocridone pigment.  I pointed out there was no margin for error and little chance to move the color around.  So I opted for our traditional and hard-working alizarine crimson. It is a delicate pigment and will float around on the paper before settling in, giving you time to add a touch of another color for a subtle admixture.  It can also be lifted if applied too heavily.  Everyone was encouraged to do color tests, or color meditations as I call them before embarking on their paintings.  I will show some of their wonderful results in my next blog.

A Magical Spring Sunday at Sugar Grove Nature Center
Funk's Grove, Illinois
Sunday, April 29, 2012

"A Season in Color" had it's second installment today, we explored the 'delicate triad' for spring.  In January, we explored the 'old master's triad' for winter subjects.  This is an exciting opportunity to try different color triads.  Our goal is to understand color theory and color mixing.  It is very helpful to work with a limited palete such as we are doing in this year-long series.  Students have said they are learning so much by working with a limited palette.  

The Universal Language of Art

Teaching a Watercolor Workshop at Arizona State University, a Drawing Master Class at the Art Academy of Tallinn, Estonia, and a Watercolor Painting Demonstrations to Students at Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok. 

Sun Spots over the Atlantic

Sun Spots 2.  

4 x 6 inch watercolor

This is another watercolor from 30,000 feet. There were beautiful sun spots on the clouds so I made numerous 4 x 6 inch paintings.