Here you will find a few words, alongside the works.
What Happens to Birds During Hurricanes?
“He in his madness prays for storms, and dreams that storms will bring him peace”
― Mikhail Lermontov
The photo of this bird was shared in a bird group I followed on Facebook. It was captured by someone after a recent hurricane hit the East Coast. And it immediately struck me. What does happen to birds in these storms? Where DO they go? How do they find shelter if caught in the midst of one? Why did this one not escape it?
I asked the photographer if I might use her image as a reference for a painting. She granted permission and since then, I have been immersed in the intricacies of this one's composition.
It captures so much to me.
That there is grace and beauty in dying. And yet confusion as to how a death can look so peaceful with a ballerina like pose. It doesn't seem polite.
It swells in me the grief cycle. Pirouettes and all.
*A sincere and special thank you to Marylee Newmann for permission to use her photograph that captured such a striking and moving moment as a reference image.
Time, Texture and a Few Thoughts
Happy Day Light Savings Time week, Americans! Funny how that one hour time change makes everything feel so weird during the first few days. The time change is giving me a little extra morning studio time before leaving for work.
Here are a few practices in watercolor texture for Fall. If you have watercolors, I encourage you to pull them out, pour a cup of tea and play.
Saran wrap, applied on wet paint and allowed to dry
Wet in to wet. Color drops allowed to blend and do their own thing.
Gauze! Probably one of my personal favorites. Place upon wet paint or paint over without moving it and allow to dry
Scratches with the end of a paintbrush
Drawn wax circles, then painted over
Due to said time change, I find myself struggling to stay awake past 8 in the evening...and that leaves me thinking about time.
The realities of the time constraints working full time have been evident. But ultimately, we all have the same amount of time in each day. It's how we choose to use it that matters.
My choices include trying to wake up early in the morning, while the moon is still out. Reading more and swimming whenever I can. (OK that's a lie, sometimes I make excuses and don't go the gym...But at least I still think about swimming on a daily basis.)
I've also recently decided I'd follow only one social media platform and let the others go. More time offline is going to be a new luxury I gift myself this holiday season.
The biggest struggle for me in all of this though is my inability to stop working on a task when it's time to put something down. I simply don't like to leave things unfinished. Often ignoring the constraints that time provides for the sake of balance.
“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
― C.S. Lewis
Carpe Diem!
Moirai
Fate or the Personification of Fate. In Greek Mythology, three women plus a delicate and fragile thread.
Moirai
Watercolor on aquabord
7" x 5"
Ich wandte mich und sah, wie es unter der Sonne zugeht, daß zum Laufen nicht hilft schnell zu sein, zum Streit hilft nicht stark sein, zur Nahrung hilft nicht geschickt sein, zum Reichtum hilft nicht klug sein; daß einer angenehm sei, dazu hilft nicht, daß er ein Ding wohl kann; sondern alles liegt an Zeit und Glück. - Prediger 9:11 from the Luther Bible
I find the German a much more poetic and descriptive version of the sentiment expressed in the following verse.
I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11
In the German the verb help is used (almost as if it is gently correcting our thinking about all that we think we need to have help us. Ending with "everything lies within (or perhaps upon?) time and chance". A theologian might have to correct my loose translating.
But the thought, I suppose, remains the same. And I find it is also expressed through those mythological women holding that metaphor of a fragile thread.
Brushes and Strokes, Watercolor Part 2
"I don't have to lay on the couch and see a therapist because my therapist is in my paint brushes." Abbey Lincoln
I'm not sure if that is 100% true but these are the therapy brushes I use in watercolor. And yes, there is a straw in there too. At this point I do not own high-end expensive brushes. Most of mine are Golden Fleece from Cheap Joe's. They are affordable and they get the job done.
What Kinds of Brushes Do I Need?
I first began investing in higher quality paper, then paint and hopefully one day, I'll add fancy brushes to that list. If you are starting out in watercolor, I recommend a small, medium and large round. A one inch flat brush and a bigger or a mop brush for wetting large areas of paper. I also have a few scrubber brushes. Sometimes you can use these scrubber brushes to lift color or pull out mistakes, but very carefully or they will tear the paper. In regards to detailed work, you don't necessarily need a teeny tiny brush. The round brushes make a sharp point that work nicely for details.
20 Techniques to Try
These brushes, a sponge, salt and bleach can create some magic. Here are a 20 strokes and effects achievable through watercolor. I intentionally used a monochromatic palette so that the transparency of the watercolor is evident. Let the water, the drying process and patience do most of the work for you. Each layer should dry before adding another.
Watercolor requires very little paint. A pool of water with a touch of pigment goes a long way. Both in regards to the painting at hand but also perhaps for that therapy as well. :-)