Watercolor in the Village

"Rose's Pansies"

I am so tired of winter. It is still snowing in Ohio and the calendar says it is spring! Where? Since there are no spring flowers outside yet, I decided to post a painting of spring flowers! This is a painting I completed several years ago. It was painted from a photograph provided to me by my friend Rose. She took the picture when she was on vacation in Florida. They weren't Ohio pansies! The colors of the flowers were spectacular and imposible to do them justice in paint. There is no way to come up to God's paintbrush! This was painted on a half sheet of watercolor paper.

Watercolor in the Village

"Images At Four From The Bathroom Floor"

15" x 22"
Well, I finally finished the painting of the lady in the bathroom floor. (Check the previous post concerning the background details of this story.) I decided to make it a painting of ladies going to tea at 4:00 in the afternoon - hence the name chosen for the painting. She is finished and now that image won't be haunting me every time I look at the floor!

Watercolor in the Village

A Diamond in the Rough

22" x 30"

As I have mentioned before, I really enjoy doing paintings of old trucks. For some reason, I especially enjoy painting old Chevy trucks, many of which are 1938 and 1939 models. (Maybe it is because I was born in 1938 and I relate to that time.) I had permission from the owner of this truck, Garrett Rinehart, to use his photograph of this truck, which he was in the process of restoring. Before he was able to finish the restoration, he was killed in an automobile accident. I understand that his twin brother is finishing the process. I would really enjoy seeing the finished product.

Watercolor in the Village

The last painting I posted was a scene from the northwoods of Wisconsin of the gallery at Boulder Junction. Today I am posting 2 more paintings from the northwoods. The first is my friend's dock on Morton Lake and the second is her canoe which is lying in grasses along the shore catching the last rays of the afternoon sun. A place that is next to heaven!

"Charlyne's Dock"

11"x15"

"Charlynes Canoe"

11" x 15"

Well - Spring arrives today! It was welcomed by a beautiful sunny day here in western Ohio! It's about time! It has been a 'hard' winter! - lots of snow, wind and ice. Unfortunately we won't have any daffodils or crocus's for Easter since Easter is very early this year.

Watercolor in the Village

"The Gallery at Boulder Junction"

22"x 15"

A very good friend of mine decided to retire to the 'northwoods' of Wisconsin 10+ years ago. She settled near the small town of Boulder Junction, in a very picturesque area surrounded by hundreds of lakes and tall trees. It is like going into a different world. Even the light is different. One of my favorite places is this small art gallery located behind The Outdoorsmen restaurant, a popular eating establishment.

In painting this scene, I attemped to capture the effect the light has on everything there. It was the first week of October - the trees were in the process of changing color and losing their leaves, a certain sign that the deep freeze of winter would soon be impacting the area.

Likeways, we are also in a period of change - wonderful spring will soon be here! My favorite time of the year! Is there anything more beautiful than the wonderful, fresh, green of spring? It almost makes the winter worth it!

This is my lady - just started. It has been fun painting her, but she will require a lot more attention before she is finished!

Now, in this picture, I have drawn over the lady in the corner - this will be the basis of my idea. I will draw this on the painting I have already prepared by collaging over it and then dry brushing white gesso over that.

This image is blurry - well, after all it is in my bathroom linoleum. If you look carefully, you can see her in the upper right-hand corner. She has a hat on!

Well, I continue to work on my 'Lady In The Bathroom Floor', I'm putting color on it now. I don't know what I am really doing on it, just sort of letting my brush take over. Time will tell.......I do know that I have to get this out of my system.

Watercolor in the Village

This is a semi-abstract painting which I completed in 2005. My attempts at abstraction are few and far-between, but this one did earn an honorable mention. This was inspired by the fact that there had been a 'window peeper' in the neighborhood, and I imagine that was on my mind.

"Here's Looking At You, Baby!"

22"x 30" Well, here we are, 'snowed in' in western Ohio. It should be a good day to paint, but so far I have been busy doing the laundry, cleaning the bath, etc................ We are currently at the 'back end' of the March blizzard of 2008! Lots and lots of snow, wind and drifting! This is a good day to stay in!



I am currently working on a mixed media piece I call 'Lady in the Bathroom Floor!' It is based on an image I see in my bathroom floor. Yes, you heard me, Bathroom Floor! I had an abstract watercolor in shades of violets, roses and blues which is titled 'Lady in waiting' which I hated. I collaged white tissue paper over the top of it and dry brushed white gesso over the surface to just catch the texture and retain the colors showing through the tissue. I now plan to draw my composition and see what happens from there. Another adventure!

Watercolor in the Village

Bosc Pears and Baked Beans

18"x24"

This painting began as an experiment after seeing a painting by Myrna Wacknov in an article about her in Watercolor Magazine. She described a process where she painted on a surface which was gesso stamped with lace. I prepared my painting surface by stamping the wet gesso with pieces of an old curtain given to me by a friend, Rosie Wermert. It was so much fun painting on the gesso, and I was pleased with the results.