Leaving White

(watercolor by Charles Reid)

The style I love most in watercolor painting is one that leaves plenty white of the paper showing through - meaning not every inch of the paper is painted. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but to me this is vital in watercolor painting because the paper, the white, the blank space, is as important as the color brushed on. When painting you have to plan for those spaces and even practice a bit of self control and wait. For some reason it's my tendency to want to fill in everything - like I'm coloring in a coloring book. Why is that? Even as I go through the day with work, errands and even my hobbies, I feel like every moment must be productive, "colored in" in order to be a "good" day. Quite frankly I don't believe I'm leaving enough white of the paper. I'm not talking laying in front of the TV and tuning out. I'm talking about
being intentional ...

mindful...

sitting still...

not coloring...




leaving some white.
Just like in painting, if we take a moment and let that white shine through - the color becomes stronger - more effective, more meaningful. Is not life meant to be more than just ploughing through quickly so you can race to the finish line and shout I won!!!! In the mean time, your work - art, sales, teaching, writing, adding numbers, flipping burgers, whatever -is finished but is it your best work?
Several years ago I taught a close friend to watercolor paint. Once a week she came to my place after work and we would set up a still life and paint. One night she really messed up a very nice painting in an effort to finish it so she could go home. So she hurried through, not thinking or planing - just filling in and quite honetly you could tell.

Just something I'm thinking about as I wrestle with doing life and art better.

(This is the work of Charles Reid - one of my favorite watercolor artists because of how he shows light by leaving the white of the paper. I recommend any of his books - he offers great advice about his technique. Better yet, take a workshop.)

Charlotte Cox - Watercolor Artist and Friend

When I lived in San Antonio, Texas I saw my art improve by leaps and bounds. Yes, I was taking classes and I had an exceptional teacher but I would have to say that the main reason I became a better artist was because of Charlotte. met sweet Charlotte in one of my art classes. Soon we became good friends and we had such a good time being together that we made it a rule not to sit next to each other in class because we didn’t get any painting done for talking too much. Charlotte ALWAYS painted! She had and still has a passion to paint and dragged me out to paint with her at least once a week. She also worked a very full time job and was quite successful at that as well. I don't know how she did it all!She offered helpful criticism and saw the good in my work when I was angry and just couldn’t see beyond all the mistakes. Her friendship kept my head above water those first months I was dealing with the end of my seven year long marriage. There were days where I would preferred to stay home, but Charlotte got me out and we painted, cried and then painted some more. You can see her work here. I'm showing you several of my favorite watercolors from her "sketch book". Fabulous work and so spontaneous and confident! I’m a big believer in creating a community of friends who are not only cheerleaders for your artistic endeavors but offer helpful criticism. Charlotte helped me pick the paintings I submitted to my first art show. She also told me where to get slides made of these paintings for submission. She helped me every step of the way when I was first starting to show my work. I sold all three paintings. I remember my mom called me from the show (it was in Virginia) and asked me what the red dots by my paintings meant. I LOVE RED DOTS!!!! Developing these friends takes time and sometimes it just happens. Charlotte and I are friends first and foremost but it was watercolor that brought us together and still keeps us connected. Her work moves me! Hope you enjoy.

Back From California

California... there really is no place like it. The amazing sun, ALL THE TIME and the traffic, ALL THE TIME. It was great to catch up with friends, lay in the sun and eat at my favorite places. One of which is Bob's Big Boy in Burbank. It's been around for ages and almost every time I go there I see "someone." My meal of choice is a pattymelt and french fries with ranch dressing and then to it with Bob under his hamburger.I also had lots of time on the flight to think about my future "job". I would love to just paint and make a living doing that. So, for the next couple of months I'm going to paint up a storm and just work as hard as I can and see what happens. I figure if I don't try it now, I may never give it a go. I met an artist here in St. Louis - MaryBeth Flynn and we spent the morning together last week. For the past 14 years she's been making her living painting watercolor house portraits. I was so encouraged to hear her story. She did let me know it was a great deal of hard work. For years I've been working two jobs - that of my day job and in my spare time, I'm painting. So, I think on some level it will be nice to just focus on the painting. So that's the plan. One step at a time, one day at a time.

Winslow Homer in Chicago

I just got back from the Winslow Homer exhibit showing at The Art Institute of Chicago. What an amazing exhibit, well worth the $20. What an extensive watercolor show! He didn't start working in watercolors until he was 37 years old and after nearly 20 years of working as a professional artist - and, the best part of all, he was a self taught artist! His extensive work in watercolor had a great deal in making the watercolors an art form in and of itself and not just a precursor to an oil painting. His use of watercolor is confident and certain. But beyond that I'm blown away by his subject matter and how he uses color and light to create an emotional impact. This is one of my favorite watercolors...
After the exhibit and seeing such masterpieces, I wonder, do I dare dip my brush in paint again? How does one get to be that good? That confident? I want to be there now and not 20 years from now. Patience. Painting. Seeing. They're all important and maybe equally so.