I traveled to Colorado last week to visit my family, but this week I’m back to painting. On Tuesday I drove to the Chimacum area (near Port Townsend) and found this barn that just begged to be painted. Its sagging eaves, weathered siding, and rusted roofing make a good subject. I tried to introduce lots of color into the painting to make it more attractive to the eye.
When I showed the painting to Katy, she said, “It looks whimsical.” That’s probably about right.
Today I joined about 15 other artists from Northwest Watercolor Society at Volunteer Park in Seattle. I chose a subject that I don’t normally try — the reflection of the historical water tower in a pond. I was happy with the soft edges (where one color bleeds into another), and the reflections are basically right. But I think the water tower should have been darker.
At noon all the painters shared their paintings by standing them up against a wall. It’s a very supportive group and I think everyone felt good about it.
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This week I spent two days painting in Seattle. On Monday I traveled to Magnuson Park Gallery to turn in two paintings for the SPACE Magnuson show. While I was there, I painted a watercolor of a picnic shelter by Lake Washington at Magnuson Park. It was a balmy spring afternoon with families strolling through the park and having picnics. Three young Hispanic guys stopped by and admired my painting. At least, that’s what their smiles and gestures communicated.
Today I joined members of Northwest Watercolor Society at Gasworks Park for their Wednesday plein air outing. Probably twenty painters were there spread out through the park. The gasworks are ancient relics of the days when a huge steam plant was located here. The rsuting mass of tanks, pipes and tubes make a great subject for a painting.
There happened to be a city crew making a new cement pad, so I included them in the painting. There was a cold breeze when I started, and it began to mist for a little while, but I persevered and finished my painting.
As is the custom, all the painters gathered at noon for the “throwdown”, a display of all our paintings. I’m always amazed at the creative ways other painters choose to portray a subject. It’s a great learning experience. I know a few of the painters, and met more painting friends today.
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