Morning Mist

 ©Robin Edmundson, 'Morning Mist on the Water', watercolor 9 x 12 inches.  $300, framed

I've been studying the art of Richard Mayhew and Donald Holden.  They both had a gift for seeing the essence of the landscape and the discipline to leave out anything that was unnecessary.  

This is something that I'm working on.  It's extraordinarily rewarding, but I confess that it is *hard* for me not to fuss and fiddle. 

I've heard people say about some of that type of work that, 'Anyone could do that!', because it looks so simple, so easy.  Doing a few simple layers, might look 'easy' [it's not],  but I've realized that what is really hard is the stopping, the *not doing more*.   Not anyone could stop at that.  That's where the discipline lies.

I was so in love the with the first wash here that I knew it was a perfect chance to practice.   I looked at that first layer for days until just the right strategy surfaced and I gently proceeded.    

Still, I fussed.  I think it could have been simplified further.  

Color - Big Color

 ©Robin Edmundson, 'Dark Red Tree', watercolor, 16 x 20 inches.   $475, unframed. 

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I discovered the art of Richard Mayhew recently.  It was one of those totally serendipitous things where something caught my eye and then I did a little research and quickly found myself falling down a rabbit hole of brilliant color and landscapes that break all the rules.   'Transcendence' is open in my studio all the time now. 

It dovetailed nicely into the study of Wolf Kahn's work which I'm doing now, too.  I love reading what he has to say about his work and his process.  He's another rule breaker, in love with color.  

As I was playing with the ideas they presented, I realized that for me the trick will be how to think about the light first, then let loose with the color.  I have a lot of work to do. I worked on this piece for a couple of weeks, a bit here, a bit there, a lot there.  I left it up in the studio for a while, not really knowing what to do with it.  Then Claire came in and said, 'I love it.  It's done.'  

I'll be playing with these ideas more.