Turquoise Barn

© Robin Edmundson, 'Turquoise barn and haybales', watercolor, 18 x 24 inches.  $750, framed.

I got stuck for a while right around the holidays.  I couldn't seem to paint anything I liked and felt way out of whack.   My mentor, the amazing Susan Webb Tregay, suggested that I focus on barns - lots and lots of barns.   For days I painted barns in all the colors.   I didn't try to make them 'good', I just painted them again and again.  I used the backs of a bunch of paintings in my garbage stack.  I tried new pigments, I tried new color combinations.  I whined a lot.  [A lot.]  But every day I painted more.

One day, it was time to pull out the Big Paper.  You know - the good kind, with acres of white staring at you, daring you to make a mistake.   I dove in, adjusting along the way.  Step back, let it dry, come back tomorrow, get feedback.  Adjust again.  Get more feedback.  Adjust again. 

I'm learning to linger over a piece and to not feel like I have to rush it. 

And in the end, I have this.    And of course I want more feedback - tell me if you think the gravel in the road is working.   I tried something new and I'm not sure how I like it or if it works.

Haybales

© Robin Edmundson, 'Haybales, blue trees', watercolor,  8 x 14 inches.  $375

Usually I try to paint the colors in season, and winter here is all about the umbers, cobalt and indigo.  This winter, though, I haven't been able to set the golds, greens and brighter colors aside yet.   I'm still loving those brights. 

I have a feeling that I'll be keeping with the brighter colors for a while. 

Five Silver Silos

© Robin Edmundson, 'Five Silver Silos', watercolor, 18 x 24 inches.  Framed.  $650.

This is my newest piece.   It's hanging right now at the Vault at Gallery Mortgage if you'd like to go see it in person.

Silver silos are a thing out here in Indiana.   We see them everywhere.  The new ones are all the same size, in neat rows and connected at the tops.   On older farms, where they added them slowly, they are different sizes and usually require a portable elevator to move the grain.  I love them because they glow and you can see them for long distances at all times of the day and they reflect the light in wonderful ways.