Another little posy of violets

©Robin Edmundson, 'Violets 715', watercolor, 5 x 6 inches.  

[Available framed, $125]

Have another little posy of violets to brighten your day!

'Such a starved bank of moss...'

©Robin Edmundson, 'Violets 714', watercolor, 5 x 7 inches. 

[Available framed, $125]

When I was about 12 years old I came across the Robert Browning poem: 'Such a starved bank of moss till that May morn.  Blue ran the flash across - violets were born!'.

Violets have always been a big favorite of mine and every year when the first violet blooms, I recite that poem to myself.  They usually start blooming in late March or April, but I feel the same delight that Browning did when he wrote that poem. 

Happy Spring!

Plein Air - Harvest Moon Flower Farm

© Robin Edmundson, 'Greenhouses - Harvest Moon Farm', watercolor, 9 x 12 inches. 
Framed to 11 x 14 inches.  $280.

This has been a good year for plein air painting for me.  I don't get out a lot, but when I do, I have a lot of fun and learn a lot as well. 

The trickiest part about plein air painting is the light.  Of course.  It moves.  Plus, the heat dries the paint really fast.  I find that I can get a good basic draft done on site, but have to finesse the darks back in the studio, to get the light effect I'm after. 

These greenhouses are at Harvest Moon Farm - a lovely place!   I took Claire with me that day and we had just enough time to get done as the shade moved and we were baking in the sun.   That's when it's time to stop. 

Watercolor for Relaxation Class!

Class: Watercolor for Relaxation

Saturday, March 24, 2018

9:00 am- noon

Location:  Robin Edmundson Studio (map)

Cost:  $65 - includes all materials

So often we sit down to creative work with the heavy expectation of creating a masterpiece...or at least something that will bring compliments from viewers. The purpose of this class is to let go of the expectation of creating something perfect and finished and replace it with the calm of simply observing what the paint and water do together. No expectations, just fun.

We will play with color, learn how different pigments react with water, experiment with salt and plastic wrap effects, play with abstract compositions and a few other surprises.

This class is appropriate for all levels of skill, including people who have never touched watercolor before. [It will probably be hardest for people who are used to trying to paint 'something' instead of just playing].

 

Register HERE.

...and if you want to stick around for more fun that day, I still have places in the Silk Dyeing Class that afternoon.

Watercolor Meditation #3: Resistance

Hello,  Lovelies!

Tomorrow is DECEMBER, which I can't really even begin to believe.  This year has been so crazy full of things that I still feel upside down.   Isn't July 4th next week?  I'm not ready for deep winter!

I'm feeling some resistance to the whole idea of the roller coaster ride that is the holidays around here.  Soooo - I have a fun watercolor meditation all about resistance.

Resistance is futile, but resistance can also be beautiful!

Watercolor Meditation:  Resistance Take a deep breath and relax.  Breathe in.  Breathe out. Relax your shoulders. Relax your arms and hands. Breathe.  You are going to have so much fun! The purpose of this meditation is examine the patterns created by things that resist or disrupt the flow.  We're going to use salt as a resist. Gather your materials:   You will be able to use these few materials for all of the activities in the series.   Watercolor pigments: Tubes, pans, or sets. Whatever is easy for you to get and use. Make sure you like the colors. [You can also use coffee or tea if that's all you have close by.] If you have tubes, then you'll need an old plate or lid to use as a palette.  Paper:  Any size mixed media paper or watercolor paper.   Thicker watercolor paper won't buckle if you decide to use a lot of water in one of these activities.  You'll need at least one sheet for each activity, but you'll probably have so much fun with some of these that you'll just keep playing.  6 x 6  inches or so is a nice size.  Big enough to play, but not be too intimidating.  If you have larger paper and want to cut it down, go right ahead.  [You can also use a napkin if that's all you have close by.] Brush:  Any watercolor brush will do.   Size 8 or 10 round is good for starters. [You can also use a straw, spoon, etc. if that's all you have close by.] Water jar:   To clean your brush in.  A recycled food jar is great.  Pint sized is great.  And for this activity, you'll need: Salt:  Any kind, any size.   Table salt, epsom salts, sea salt, rock salt.  MEDITATION:   RESISTANCE Swish your brush around in the plain water.  Get it nice and wet. Choose your favorite color and make a puddle of that color in your palette.  Light or dark, doesn't matter.   Lay some of that color on your paper. Now make another puddle of a color you love.   Lay some of that color next to the first color on your paper.   Doesn't matter how.  Watch them mingle and FLOW. OBSERVE how shiny the paper is when it's really wet and how the shine begins to dull as the water soaks into the paper. Pull out your salt and sprinkle a bit on the dull wet areas and on the shiny areas.   Set it aside flat and in a few minutes come back to see the patterns forming.   Let it dry completely, then brush off the salt to see the results.   Use your imagination - Do the patterns remind you of frost, or flowers, or leaves, or feathers...? Now play. You can't do it wrong.  Lay down the colors and drop the salt in the damp areas.   What's happening on the paper?   Two things:  As the salt dissolves, it creates a resist which pushes the pigment away. In addition, salt draws the water to it, creating little puddles which make patterns as they dry [more on that below]. One more thing... Other things can disrupt the flow of watercolor also.   This is a picture of a backflow, or bloom.   This type of resist happens when there is a very wet puddle surrounded by damp, but much less wet areas.   As the surrounding areas dry, the water is pulled [wicked] back into them from the puddle. The water from the puddle re-wets the paint and pushes it aside as it soaks into those areas.  Blooms make beautiful patterns. Look back on your previous watercolor meditations and see if there are any blooms. Thanks so very much for spending some time with this today.  I hope you've used this meditation to relax and put some calm in your day.  If you have a question, observation or photo you want to share, I'd love to hear from you! Email me.

See all of my classes here.

The other activities in this series:

Meditation #1: Observation

Meditation #2: Flow 

Meditation #3: Resistance

Meditation #4: Obstacles

Meditation #5: Opposition

Meditation #6: Wabi Sabi

Bonus Meditation:  FLOW-ers

Griffy Lake Plein Air

Griffy Lake, May.  ©Robin Edmundson, Watercolor on paper, 10 x 14 inches.
$350.  Framed 16 x 20 inches.

I have joined the local Plein Air group and have been excited to find that I enjoy plein air painting very much.   I painted this one at Griffy Lake in Bloomington last week to the accompaniment of bird song, soft rain [for just 5 minutes] and the chatter of 150 4th graders.

Let me just tell you that 4th graders are a huge ego-boost.   Every time a group would go by, someone would call out, 'Wow.  You're a really good artist!'.    So sweet!   Let's just hope they grow up to be art buyers as well as art appreciators.

At any rate, I'm trying to really reach for new color possibilities and I liked the way these purple trees turned out.   I'm excited to do more plein air painting with this terrific group.  

Winter Wheat Fields

© Robin Edmundson, 'Winter Wheat Field', watercolor on paper, 9 x 13 inches

In preparation for some classes I'm teaching this year, I've been reading a lot of new things on color and painting.  A quote about 'degenerate art' popped up a few times during my reading.  It struck a chord and I've been doing some degenerate art of my own.   [I'm in good company - it included all of the cubists, the expressionists and impressionists among others.]

In addition to the sheer joy of doing wild and crazy things with color, I've used this as an excuse to try painting using specific color harmonies.  

This piece was painted with only 4 colors:  aureolin, diox violet, cobalt and burnt sienna.  It's a perfect rectangle color harmony and was really fun to work on.   I'll be doing more with this idea.

Burning Bales

After my class in Kentucky with Judy Mudd [see previous post], I came home and did some work on a piece I've been thinking about for a couple of years.

One afternoon in early spring just after a snow, we came upon a field where the farmer was clearing out some old fence rows to join two fields.  He had flattened and was burning the old bales.   There were probably 25 bales in a smoky line.   It was beautiful and eerie and amazing.  

I will probably try this piece a couple more times, experimenting with different things.  

Painting Class with Judy Mudd

In my eternal quest to become a really good painter, I took a class from Judy Mudd in Berea, Ky earlier this month.

It was amazing.    I'd never done a class like that before so I decided to go with the flow.  She had done a lot of prep before hand, chosen the reference photos and worked up a finished painting so we knew what we were aiming for.  

We spent a lot of time gathered around her easel watching her demo, then back to our own work, then back to demo, back to ours, etc. a section at a time.  

Here's the thing.   When you take a class like this from a gifted artist and teacher, she brings out the best in you.    I do not paint as well as I painted in this class, yet every pencil mark, every puddle and brush stroke in these paintings is really mine.   I painted these...and was stunned afterward that I did.

We painted this one the first day.  There are some things I'd like to fix, but I tried a bunch of new stuff and it looks pretty OK.  I was really happy with it.  [And truthfully, the best thing about this is the rust on the silo.  I invented that rust - it wasn't in the reference photo.  I love that rust.]





The second day, we did the white house on the curve [above].   A bunch of stuff clicked and I was amazed at how successful that piece is.

Here's the other thing.  Now I'm kind of scared that I won't be able to do my own stuff that well.  Yeah.  So I've pinned these up in my space to remind me of what we did.   I have my class notes out and open so I can refer back when I need to.   And I'm going to keep on painting.  

What I Do in the Winter

Once the garden is done for the year and the cold sets in, I have time to practice painting.    It's a slow, painstaking process.   I have to remind myself that it's OK to paint a lot of bad paintings and that practice is often messy. 

But sometimes things turn out OK.   I like the water and the trees in this one.