Another Experiment - Leonard's Barn

© Robin Edmundson, 'Leonard's Barn' work in progress,  watercolor, 10 x 14 inches

I've been playing with really wet, messy washes, lots of color, lots of granulating pigments and some simplified compositions. 

This piece is really overworked, but the concept is pretty good and I think with practice I'll be able to do things like this more comfortably.   It will be good for me to lay in the wash and then leave it alone.  

Watercolor to Music

On Saturday, March 17, I had the pleasure of attending a class called Realms of Expression, taught by the dynamic duo of Cheryl Kaldahl and Rena Brouwer at the Brown County Art Guild in Nashville, Indiana.

The topic was fascinating - What is the brain connection between art, color and music and how can our creation of art be enhanced by music?  Cheryl has been studying the science behind color and music and spent some time explaining the connections between the two.  Rena is a renowned watercolorist who led us through activities in color and design to help us see new ways of organizing our paintings. 

We spent time painting to different types of music; we talked a lot about how different types of music sparked different reactions in us.

One of the most interesting parts of the day for me was listening to a piece of music and just letting my hand guide the brush to a color then the paper and then just letting it dance.   No plan, no mistakes, just let the brush dance across the paper to the music.  It was bliss.   

The gallery's spring show is up and it is spectacular!   Every few months, every artist brings in new work for the walls and they rearrange the entire space.   It keeps things very fresh and allows for a new way of looking at each artist and each piece.   Visitors are allowed to come and sketch or paint as they are inspired by the works displayed. 

In addition, this month there is a special exhibit of watercolor works in the upstairs galleries.  So much to enjoy and learn from.

New Colors: Red Oak

Every so often I get the urge to play with color in the studio and work up some more colorways.   I've got two in the works.

This is one is Red Oak.   I've been thinking about it for a long time.   Earthy reds, rust, brown and purple.   

Pic above:  superwash tencel roving, Moonbeam rayon ribbon, Nuthatch cabled yarn, Stella raw silk yarn.

Right:  Firefly yarn - superwash wool/tencel fingering weight.   My favorite yarn ever.

All of these yarns are available in my Etsy shop, right now.  www.robinjedmundson.etsy.com

Around the Bend

And now, for your intellectual and viewing pleasure, a Philosophical Moment. 
Brought to you by Rurification. [cue violins....]

There are a lot of bends and curves in the roads out here.  You can't see straight to where you're going, but you've got to trust that you're going in the right direction and that any detours will be lovely.   You never know what fabulous things lie just around the bend.   Enjoy the curves.

Color

Happy Wednesday!

The fall colors are really starting to show.  I hope you get outside to enjoy them.

October Color

October doesn't get much prettier than this winged sumac.




[It's prettier when you blow it up.  Click to biggify.]

Some of the Prettiest Color in the Woods

...comes from the wild vines.  

I think this is an air potato vine.  [If you can identify it more accurately, let me know in the comments]

Poison Ivy.    It's gorgeous in October.

More poison ivy.  Do not be tempted to pick this stuff.   It's nasty all year long. 

Virginia creeper.    It's glorious this time of year. 

Color Inspiration - Fall Flowers

Sometimes people ask me where I get my color inspiration from.   I get it from all over.   Sometimes, I'll see a few yarns together and think 'Yes!'  and sometimes I see things in the real world that make me want to drop everything and go wind a warp.

Things like these late summer flowers.  I love to weave towels in these bright colors.

Here are some of the towels inspired by these flowers in my garden.  They make my heart go pitter pat.   I love these towels.

From left to right:  zinnia plaid, party red plaid, party gold plaid, leaf plaid.

Want to see more of my towels?   Check out the towels in my etsy store! 

Another Ridiculous Number of Fall Photos

It is a truly ridiculous number of fall pics. 

As I said in the previous post, I got carried away.   

Too carried away for just a single post.   

Here are more, yes more!   

More color, more leaves. 

Just get a load of this awesome tree.   With those cool kinky branches in front of that great color.   ALL those great colors.  

Really.    How could I not post this pic?   It's gorgeous. 

If Tiffany had seen this tree, he'd have designed a window to immortalize it.     So you see, I had no choice.  I had to post it.








And I had to post these, too.  These are our woods.   This particular little glen catches the late afternoon light.   I love it. 

 And I took a bunch more pics of leaves.

Colors and leaves.   I didn't want to leave the leaves out.  So, here are more gratuitous pictures of pretty leaves.  

I'd tell you that these are the last of the fall pics, but it'd probably be a lie.     I'm a color junky and it's hard to resist taking more and more and more.... 

In the studio: Iris

These are my favorite colors.   I love working with them.   I love wearing them.   I love them on my walls.

Lots of other folks like them, too.   This is only a third of what I've dyed in this colorway to take to the Michigan Fiber Festival.
  

What are your favorite colors?