Knossos, Crete

Three on-site watercolors made at the 

famous archeological site at Knosos, Crete.

I will be sharing my Greek watercolors with you I made in my 2006 sabbatical since I return in my 2014 sabbatical.  Lovely Greece is on my mind.

The bull fresco pavilion (featured here in 2 paintings) is heavily restored.  I am researching these ancient bulls, called aurochs, now extinct.  Polish nobility kept them alive into the 1700's on a special reserve in Poland but viruses from domiesticated animals brought about their demise.  Aurochs were enormous, fierce animals, the stuff of ancient legends, cited by Julius Ceasar himself.

Recently, I archived all my watercolors done on site in Greece, Crete and Istanbul, along with watercolors I made in my studio at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.  I used Fabriano watercolor paper for on-site work because the paper allowed for the paint to dry quickly.  Sometimes I would be running to the exit gate at site closing time, holding up the wet watercolors like a waiter holds trays of food.  Luckily, no watercolors got damaged in the late afternoon sprint.

Acrylic painting Workshop at Quincy Art Center, Quincy Illinois

Sponsored by the Quincy Art Guild

In November 2010, I gave a watercolor workshop during my solo exhibition at the Gray Gallery at Quincy University.  We had a dynamic experience with a very dynamic group of painters, and the group loved my acrylic paintings in the exhibition, so they asked me to teach an acrylic workshop.

It is always a wonderful experience to share what I know with dedicated artists and those who aspire to learn more and become better artists.  I learned how much is missing in the teaching (or lack of it) when it comes to acrylic paints.  There is so much more than just sticking your brush in some paint and water and trying to paint!  So we had a great day learning and sharing.  Besides, since it was fall, there way a bountiful harvest to paint and share thanks to secretary Liz.  Big thanks to my hostess, Ann, president of the QAG. Her house and garden are awesome.  I'll come back anytime to Quincy!

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.