" 100 SLC Porches, No.99" & An Art Show...

Last night, I excitedly put the final touches on this porch painting.  I emailed the picture off to the porch owner who I really hope like this.  After seeing a friend's porch painted in this project, the owner of this porch approached me and ask if I would paint their porch.  I thought it would be a good addition to the project, especially since I had not done any of this style or any duplex porches.  So here it is...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.99"; Oil on 16" x 16" Wood Panel

AND Here's the information/ details of the Art Show...

100 SALT LAKE CITY PORCHES:

An Art Show

Saturday January 14th, 2012

From 2 to 6PM

At

235 West 2950 South - Salt Lake City

(Above the Offices of Gritton & Associates)

There will be FREE Music, Beverages, & Food for you to enjoy while you browse through the art.  Additional art will be on sale too!  20% of all sales proceeds will be donated to the Salt Lake City Habitat for Humanity.

From 2:30 - 4:30 PM Come Enjoy Music By...

 Os Corvos

Os Corvos (Portuguese translation of “The Crows”) is a diversely talented acoustic guitar duet of Jay Kirsch and Jerry Parsons. They perform a wide variety of musical styles including Latin, Jazz, Brazilian MPB, New Age, Flamenco, Classical, and Contemporary.

"100 SLC Porches, No. 98"

Almost there and it's exciting to see this project reaching completion.  Here's #98...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.98"; Watercolor on 12" x 12" Paper

I happen to cycle from time to time with this porch owner.  She's a wonderful gal and I was having everyone telling me to swing by and check out her porch because it's a cute one.  I have to agree!  I took some artist license and painted it with snow.  I just felt these snowman needed the snow to play up the season right.  Please check out the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  Thanks for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

Auntie's Kiss...

In between while waiting for parts of porch painting #98 to dry, I've been working on other smaller watercolors like this one...

"Auntie's Kiss"; Watercolor on 7" x 13" Cold Press Paper

This is based on a photo of a friend who uploaded the photo on Face Book and I thought was just TOO cute not to attempt to paint. This painting as well as others will be on display and available to purchase at the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Show that will take place on January 14th. More information about the show will be coming soon.  I just need to work out some details.  Thanks for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.97 & An Upcoming Show"

I'm getting closer and closer to finish this 100 Salt Lake City Art Project.  It's exciting as well as gratifying in actually finishing a project; rather a sense of accomplishment.  This porch was suggested by my former oil painting teacher who lives just up the street.  Thanks Melodie!  It was a wonderful suggestion and I wish I would've spotted this porch earlier in the year because I imagine these flower beds would be gorgeous with flowers.  But here it is...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.97"; Watercolor on 12" x 12" Paper

For painting this porch, I decided to keep it to a limited color pallet.  I only used cerulean blue, indingo blue, golden yellow, and permanent rose.  I started off with one layer of flat wash and then finished with the puddle style of watercolor.

UPCOMING SHOW...

I'm in the process of working out the details and will be trying to contact some of those that have all ready purchased their porch paintings.  It looks as though there will also be some live music as well!  It should be a fun little event where everyone can see all 100 Salt Lake City Porches in person. 

Prelim plans for...

Saturday January 14th  from 2-6PM

Please save the date! 

To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project (or to request a purchase), click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thanks for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.96"

I've been eyeing this eclectic porch for a while now and trying to figure out which time of year to do.  You see, the straw man that resides on the porch changes accessories from time to time- season to season.  Also, in mid summer the front yard raised gardens are in full glorious bloom.  It was hard choosing which version to do.  I chose this latest version that I took a picture of when I cycled by about two weeks ago.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.96"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Paper.

 
My other dilemma was trying to choose which method of painting it would be best.  I was playing with the idea of doing it in an oil but I've opted to do it in watercolor.  I started with a couple of layers of flat washes and then worked in the puddle style of watercolor painting.  To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.93, 94, & 95"

It was a productive Thanksgiving Holiday.  I took advantage of the time off... got in a couple of bike rides, did some reading and managed to fit some painting time in too.  You could say it was my ideal vacation.  Here's the latest in the porch painting scene...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.93"; Watercolor on 11" x14" Yupo.

  I watched this house come into my friend Diane's neighborhood.  The old house that used to be on the same plot of land came down in less than three days, and I've been watching this new striking and modern house come into being.  It's energy efficient and has solar panels.  It also has a very interesting angular appearance.  I limited the pallet for this watercolor to just three colors- cadmium orange, french ultramarine blue, and dioxazine purple.  I took the photo of this porch and the next one just after the first November snow.  In fact, these two porches (#93 & #94) are on the same street. 

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.94"; Watercolor on 10" x 13" Paper

I was thinking of the transition between Halloween to Thanksgiving and then on to Christmas when I took the photo for this porch.  There was a fresh layer of snow that seemed to catch the world by surprised.  I thought the combination of snow covered pumpkins, the tree topiaries and the red shutters/ front door just made me think about the transition through the holidays.  I also liked how this porch is more like a deck on the front of the house.  It's an extension of living space even though the furniture on this "front deck" had a layer of snow on it when I took the photo.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.95"; Oil on 12" x 12" Canvas.

I've been admiring this porch for awhile now and had hoped to have captured it earlier while all of the potted plants/flowers were in their summer fullness.  But each time I went by I never seemed to be with a camera in hand being on my way to some event in the downtown area.  I took a quick photo this last week after the snow melted.  Leaves had blown and scattered covering most of the lawn but I think it just added to the wonderful rich color of this porch.  Check out the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase one), click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thank you for stopping by!

"100 SLC Porches, No.92"

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thankgiving!  I'm hoping to get some more porch paintings done over the long holiday weekend.  But in meanwhile, here's the latest porch painting...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.92"; Oil on 8" x 10" Canvas.

This house is a cute cottage up in the Avenues area of Salt Lake City.  This painting is a commissioned piece.  It's for a friend and its her bosses' house.  She's giving it as a Christmas present; a neat idea.  I sent her a picture last night via text and received a "Wow. Absolutely spectacular".  So I'm figuring she liked it. :)  I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with doing commissioned work.  I know its part of being a successful artist but I sometimes still struggle with the concept of someone wanting to pay me to paint something for them.  I guess its because I feel I'm still struggling (the eternal struggle) to be a good artist.  To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase one of ), click here.  Thank you for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.89, 90, & 91"

I've been busy painting away and also have had some computer problems.  So here's a bit of catching up with the last three that I've painted of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project...


"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.89"; a Poured Watercolor on 12" x 15" -300 lb Cold Press Paper.

There was so much cute and color to the above porch that I felt it lend itself naturally to a pour watercolor.  I used some 300 lb. weight watercolor paper for this poured watercolor.  I did 4 different pours and then finished with a bit of puddle painting.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.90"; Watercolor on 10" x 15" Paper.

The last of the Halloween decorated porches (and there were a GREAT deal to chose from), I decided to do in a sepia-colored gray.  I thought it helped play up a "spooky-ness".  I just LOVED the line of chained arms reaching out of the ground and the cemetery that lays off to the side as you approach the porch.  These porch owners really like Halloween and they've got a fun sense of humor about it too.  The first gravestone to the right says..." Myra Mains.... I told you I was sick!"  There was even more humor as you went along and read some of the other gravestones.



"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.91"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Paper

This porch belongs to my watercolor painting teacher and I'm very curious to see what she thinks.  I decided to do it at a different close up angle to give it more interest.  She had SO many pretty flowers out this last summer while I was over there doing a bit of cat sitting for her.  I took the camera shot in the late evening and the sun only caught part of the top corner of the south facing porch and the upper of the tall evergreen.  I did this in a wet-to-dry style.  I hope she likes it and I'll find out tonight.  To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) the 100 Salt Lake City Porch Project, please click here.  Thank you for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.88 & Playing With Alternative Methods"

Here's No. 88 of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, which I finished late last night...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.88"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

I spotted this porch while out driving during my lunch hour about a week before Halloween.  The porch was surrounded by orange leaves and pumpkins.  The black cat had sparkles on it and shimmered with each light breeze in the noon day light.  It seemed to tease and beckon me.  There were quite a few cutely decorated houses along this quiet street in the Sugarhouse neighborhood.  I did this painting as a series of flat washes that I slowly built up upon.  If you would like to view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.

Last night in my Wednesday water coloring class (taught by Colleen) we went through alternative methods; or as Colleen likes to call it-- "painting with the kitchen sink".  I painted this scene below with some of those methods such as: cutting when wet, using rubbing alcohol, applying wax and table salt, pressing saran wrap, and sponging.  I felt like a young kid in an arts and craft class where there was no wrong or right answer to doing things.  I was having SO much FUN just experimenting.  Not too sure about the finished product but HEY! I had a good time in the process of it...

"Basketed Bright Pink Bike Along the Strip"; Watercolor on 10" x 15" Paper

 I welcome any feedback you may have and Thanks for stopping by!

"100 SLC Porhces, No.86 & No.87"

It was a productive weekend and I managed to almost get three new porch paintings finished.  The third one is about 3/4 of the way done and will probably be finished in the next day or two.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.86"- Watercolor on 11" x 14" Yupo

There was a wonderful warm Fall sunny afternoon when I took the photo of this porch.  It seemed the whole world was a glow with this warm glow of yellow light.  Yes, I was again on my bike and riding along with my camera.  Then I saw this HUGE spider in a web on the porch.  I felt I needed to do some Halloween decorated porches and I thought this one would be a fun one to do.  This is puddle painting on yupo and I just had FUN with this painting.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.87"- Oil on 8" x 10" Canvas

I took the photo of this porch about a month ago and have been wanting to paint it.  I remember it was on a warm Sunday afternoon that I was biking through this neighborhood.  There was SO many flowers and a dappled sunniness that this porch caught my eye.  To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have and thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.84 & No. 85"

Now that Halloween is over I can get the paints back out.  I had almost 50 bicycle riders show up for the Halloween Costume ride that I lead this last Saturday.  If you would like to see some pictures and read about visit here.  I managed to finish up two porch paintings last night and here they are...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.84"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

This porch is rather hidden in a neighborhood up in the Olympus Cove area of the Salt Lake Valley.  I liked how it's kind of Frank Lloyd Wright inspired.  The stairs up are at an angle and then there are these red metallic lion statues that sit on each side of the door.  This painting is a series of flat washes where I used yellow ochre, cerulean blue, and a mixed red.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.85"; Oil on 16" x 16" Canvas

One Sunday afternoon I spotted porch #85 on a bike ride down in the area of Draper which is in the very south end of the Salt Lake City Valley.  It's a very modern home of wood, cement, and glass that's situated at a 90 degree angle from the street.  I prepped part of the canvas with just a bit of yellow acrylic that I thinned down with water.  I wiped on the yellow on in the sky area and then quickly wiped off.  I wanted to leave quite a bit of the canvas untouched and white.  I think it plays well with the modern edge that the home has.  When I painted this I chose to limit the pallet to the colors of olive green, a warm orangey Indian yellow, and cerulean blue.  To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  Thank you for visiting!  I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.83"

I've slowed down a little on this project.  Recently, I've been planning and prepping for a Halloween Bike Ride.  This is the 5th year I've held the bike ride.  I've had to put my paints away while I had the carpets cleaned and parts of my apartment deep cleaned.  I usually have a social get together at my place afterwards; which last year I ended up with a total of almost 30 people in my one bedroom apartment.  It was rather cozy.  I'm expecting more this year.  But here's No.83....

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No. 83"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

This porch is just down the street from #82 and I really wanted to focus on the light with this porch.  I started with a light flat wash of lemon yellow and slowly built up with a series of flat washes.  I did two more flat washes with the lemon yellow increasing the value each time.  I, then, did two more flat washes with phathlo blue increasing the value each time.  I then did a small light wash with dioxazine purple.  Then, I finished with a bit of puddle style done with almost straight pigment of the phathlo blue and dioxazine purple.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  You may view the progress of (or to request purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project, click here or click on the blog page tab above.  Thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.82"

It was a sunny warm Fall day when I went by on my bicycle and saw this porch.  The angle of the light made the evergreen shaped spirals dramatic and I thought they would be fun to paint them.  It was fun and here it is number 82...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.82"; Watercolor on 12" x 11" Paper

I started to do this painting in the wet-to-dry method but then as it dried I switched to the puddle style method to work on the foreground with the spiraling topiary and the pot of golden mums on the porch. I really had fun with this painting.  To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, please click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thanks for stopping by.

"100 SLC Porches, No.81"

On this porch, I was entranced with the cute white light and the flowers surrounding this porch.  I chose to make the house lighter.  The actual house color is a charcoal gray on the shakes.  It is very close to the same color of home I grew up in.  It also had shakes.  My mom had this special blend to get just the right shade of charcoal gray; not too dark (its not a black) and not too light.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.81"; Watercolor on 11" x 11" Paper

 This painting was a bit of an experiment for me.  I did a series of flat washes on hot pressed paper.  I had never tried doing a flat wash on hot pressed paper.  Generally, hot pressed paper doesn't absorb the water quickly and water tends to puddle; which makes it excellent for puddle painting.  After doing the flat washes, I then finished off the painting with a bit of puddle painting.  To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.80"

In between, cat sitting for a friend and catching a cold this weekend.  I still managed to get a porch painting done.  Here it is...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.80"; Watercolor on 11" x 11" Paper

This cute porch was nestled in a quiet Holliday neighborhood in the Salt Lake Valley.  It was a late Sunday afternoon when I spotted as I was out for a Sunday drive.  I could have used this one earlier in the project during the 4th of July time.  But oh well, I thought it was a cute one to do anyway.  I used the puddle style of watercolor on this porch painting.  To view the progress of (or to make a purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback.  Thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.78 & No.79"

I took a three day weekend and managed to get a couple of porch paintings done.  Here they are...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.78"; Watercolor on 10" x 12" Paper.

The above Federal Heights area porch is canopied by two trees.  I took a picture of it earlier in the spring when the trees were just budding out but thought that it might be more interesting to wait till the trees filled out.  Now the trees are just barely starting to turn as the temperatures start falling.  I started this porch painting in a flat wash of yellow to help with the contrast of the canopied area and the rest of the painting.  The rest of the porch painting is done in the puddle style of watercolor painting on a hot pressed paper.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.79"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper

I almost got rear ended by a BMW and a dirty look from the car driver on a Sunday afternoon car ride when I took the picture of this porch.  It was a beautiful day and the trees surrounding this house almost secluded it in shade.  I was driving slowly through the Federal Heights neighborhood scouting porches.  This yellow house caught my eye and then the symmetry around the door captured me.  I used phatlo blue, crimson red, and aurora yellow in this pour; which was done in four different pouring levels.  To view the progress of (or to purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.77"

Back to the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, and here I start off with a wonderful yellow Victorian that resides in the lower Avenues.  Yes, I know it's another yellow house(which I favor), but I think that you'll see that this is a very unique porch.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.77"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

I started this porch painting with a series of flat washes in yellow; building and building on the yellow.  Then, I switched to some puddle style watercolor painting to finish it all off.  This weekend, I did managed to get out in the car and on my bike to scout out some more potential porches.  So I guess, I need to get back to the project.  To view the progress of (or to purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any feedback you may have.

In A Flowering Mood...

I've been in a bit of a flowery mood of late and am wandering into uncharted territory.  As a co-worker stated recently," I never imagined you as the flowery type."  I will admit that I usually am not, being more of the tom-boy type.  But it's kind of been nice trying my hand at something new.  Here's a couple of recent watercolors, I've done in the wet to dry method...

"Poppies A Blooming"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

"Crab Apple Blossoms"; Watercolor on 10" x 13"

I'll probably start back in with the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Project this weekend and I'm hoping to be able to scout out some new porch possibilities on my bike too.

A Porch Break...

I'm taking a short break from the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project this week.  Part of the reason is that I need a bit of a break and want to paint other things. I've had some photos I have taken while out scouting porches and cycling that I've wanted to paint but just haven't had the time.  Well, I thought I would take a bit of a time out this week to paint some of those.  I also have started back with Colleen Reynolds Watercolor Classes.  I took the summer off because I ride my bike WAY TOO much in the summer to have time for everything.  Like this painting below, I've had a photo I took back at the beginning of summer of these birdhouses.

"Birdhouses in a Row"; Watercolor on 10" x 12" Paper done in the wet-to-dry method.

Another part of the reason is that I am taking a break.  I am in need of some more porches to paint.  I've managed to get quite a variety relatively close to where I live and bike on a regular basis but now I need to venture out a little further in the Salt Lake City valley to look for some unique porches.  It takes a bit more time.  If any of you that are reading this know of some porches that are unique, please drop me an address via email (its2allgood4u@yahoo.com ).  I would be very grateful.

"100 SLC Porches, No.76"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.76"- Watercolor on 10" x 12" Paper

I love these little cottage like houses.  There are quite a few similar to this one throughout the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake.  I was especially drawn to this one because of the wildflower like landscape that surrounded it.  It feels like it's nestled in a quiet garden all by itself.  I also liked the detail of the small window above the door.  I started this painting as a pour using permanent rose.  Then I used a bit of ultramarine blue in the sky area.  Then I finished the painting with the puddle style of watercolor painting and a bit of dry brushing.  To view the progress (or to purchase one) of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  Thank you for visiting and please leave a comment if you are so incline.

"100 SLC Porches, No.75"

I'm amazed at myself!  I'm 3/4 of the way through this art project.  I've stuck with the project and used no excuses to get out of it.  I've also amazed myself with the bit by bit that I've improved.  It's interesting looking from the first porch and working to the later ones.  Check out the progress yourself by clicking the link below and see how I've progressed along.  I have had fun with this project and I've meet some really fun porch owners along the way too!  Here's No.75...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.75"; Oil on 11" x 14" Canvas board.

I played loosely with this oil and tried to really focus on the light that comes through the trees and at the porch at an angle.  It was fun and came together very quickly.  From start to finish it took about 4 hours total to paint this porch.  To view the progress (or to purchase one) of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.73 & No.74"

Between pours at this last weekend's workshop, I managed to work on these two porch paintings.  I worked in the pour method on both of these.  It just seemed to be fitting when I'm at a workshop that focuses on that method.  These were much smaller than what I was working on in the workshop and I did finish both of these off with a bit of puddle painting when I got back to Salt Lake City.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.73"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

On both of these porch paintings, I kept to a limited color scheme.  On the blue and yellow, I purposely went muted and understated.  The orange-ish one below, I used different valves of the same color of paint and created the mono-chromatic porch.  I find its fun to play with these limited pallets to create a painting.



"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.74"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

To view the progress (or to purchase one ) of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have, and thanks for visiting!

A Fun Workshop...

Here's Leslie's wonderful finished project from the workshop.  You'll see my poor excuse near the end of this posting.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend.  I managed to get in almost 60 very scenic miles on the bike and enjoyed a fun workshop too.  I learned a new approach to poured watercolors in Leslie Redhead's Pouring Luminous Watercolors Workshop.  Leslie was a wonderful patient teacher and it was such a fun group to hang out with at the Pocatello Art Center too. 
Here's some photos from the workshop...


Leslie demonstrating the pouring method; adding yellow watercolor on second pour.



Then, red was added on each side of the yellow.



Leslie then spread watercolor around by tipping the painting.



Then, Leslie poured off the paint.





Now here's examples of my work....

After the first pour.

Almost there....

After the 4th pour.

And then....

Here's what I ended up with.  It still needs some work done to it.

A Weekend Workshop...

I’m off to Pocatello, Idaho this weekend.  Why Pocatello, you might ask?  I’m going to be taking a “Pouring Luminous Watercolors” Workshop at the Pocatello Art Center.  The workshop is taught by a wonderful watercolorist that I have been admiring on-line for awhile.  Her name is Leslie Redhead.  I LOVE her poured watercolors of cityscapes and buildings.  Pictured here is a Chinatown Statue, a poured watercolor that I stole from her site.  (I hope she’ll forgive me.)  It is one of my favorites.  She also has some amazing flowers; especially irises and poppies.  Please click on her name and check out her artwork.  It is definitely worth a visit.  Leslie is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada; and I jumped at the chance when I found out she was holding a workshop so close to Salt Lake City.  It’s about a 3 hour drive and, of course, I’m taking my bike in tow.  I figured I could bike some new territory while I'm there.  I’ve really been excited for this weekend for the last month.  It’s almost like Christmas!  I’ll update you and hopefully share a beautiful piece of watercolor artwork when I get back.   

"100 SLC Porches, No.71 & No.72"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.71"; 8" x10" Oil on Canvas

I remember a few years ago going by this above house and it had been gutted by fire.  I felt so bad for the people who lived there.  When I was an early teenager our house had been gutted by fire, and I hate the thought of anyone having to live through that.  But I'm glad as I went on my bike a couple of weeks ago with camera and saw that they had rebuilt and made improvements too.  I wondered about the unique clumping landscaping.  They are tufts of like long grass spaced in front of the porch area.  Might these bloom later in the season?  Or was it something like those small planter with the neatly trimmed grass that's kind of zen in nature? Hmmmm...


"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.72"; Watercolor on Yupo.

 I bike by Porch #72 three times a week early in the morning on a regular bike club ride (BCC).  I've been watching the ivy slowly fill up around and on the porch as the bike season has progressed along from Spring into Summer and soon heading into Fall.  I decided about a week ago that the ivy had reached it's zenith of porch covering and I thought it would be fun to do kind of a hidden porch.  This painting I did in the puddle style of water coloring which I always find fun to do on yupo.  I limited the colors to kelly green, indigo blue, light green, dioxazine purple, and a bit of permanent rose.  To view the progress (or to request a purchase) of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, visit this page.  Thank you for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.70"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.70"; Watercolor on 10" x 12" Paper

This porch painting I did as a cross between a wet-to-dry method and a poured watercolor style with a bit of puddle watercolor painting.  So I guess you could say I used no one particular style in a way. :)  I did narrow down the color scheme at least.  I used kelly green, indigo blue, and dioxazine violet.  To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase) click here.  I welcome any feedback you have have!

"100 SLC Porches, No.69"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.69"; Watercolor on 11" x 14" Yupo.

It was the pretty purple tree of roses of sharon (or at least that's what I thought it was) in the front yard that first drew me.  Then as I looked closer my eyes were drawn in by the window paned areas on each side of the front door.  In this painting, I used the puddle style watercolor painting on yupo. Once a watercolor painting on yupo dries there's a certain glistening softening look that occurs that I just find fascinating.  To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to request to purchase), please click here.  I welcome any feedback  you may have and thank you for stopping by my blog.

A Shared Story...

I’m always fascinated when I find out a story that’s behind a scene I have painted. This story is ties in with the swing on 100 Salt Lake City Porch painting #61, which is interesting because it was the swing in front that drew me to their porch.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.61"; A Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

The story was recently shared to me from the porch owner, a woman who is inspiring. She’s a mother and breast cancer survivor who has started a non-profit yoga classes for cancer survivors called “A Quality Life Community”. The story she shared is called Abigail’s Swing. They ended up putting the swing in the front yard after they built a garage in the place of a swing set. But Abigail still needed some where to swing, and thus, the swing was hung from the tree in the front yard. Here’s the story as written wonderfully by this inspiring woman and Abigail's mom …

Abigail’s Swing

When the world gets too noisy for my daughter, she retreats to her swing or to a rocking chair. She puts everything else on hold, then rocks it into perspective. Or perhaps she prefers to be part of the audience, not a participant. In either case, she has always done this, since the moment she could sit up independently.


Me, I’m a bouncer. I bounce against the backs of couches, love to rock in rocking chairs, and recall, as a child, the transition of outgrowing my swing set as difficult. I loved my swing set and consider my time spent swinging a significant period in my life. Like Abigail, I loved watching my brothers and sister play. I liked being in the audience once in a while, not always interactive. Swinging was my moving meditation.
Abigail can swing for hours at a time. She needs to think, and this is her place.


“I need to take a break, Mom,” she’ll suddenly say to me.

“Okay.”


I would have no idea what was jarring her world, but I understood her need instinctively.


“Have fun. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

Moving backward and forward helps her mind open up to imagination, to the clouds, to the sky where her mind takes her body to fly. She loves watching kids play. She loves watching her brother entertain the other kids. She loves being the audience to his performances. Swinging is her moving meditation, too. It’s a peaceful place for her to think. Seeing the good and feeling the peace.


This movement of back and forth has helped her cope with any perceived stress she experienced.

“I lose my mind,” she told me once.


“I feel like a cloud floating in the sky. When I look backward, it feels like I am flying.”


Then we were building a garage, and half of the swing set was in pieces. It doesn’t balance right and she frets.
“I miss being on the swing.”

"100 SLC Porches, No.68"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.68"; Poured Watercolor on 10" x 13" Paper

I was slowly biking along in this neighborhood when out of the corner of my eye I caught this house.  At a quick glance, it kind of looked like feather plumes in front of the upper windows.  When I looked again, my eyes wandered around the front of this house.  The ivy, the flowers, the shrubs, and the large trees that provided shady spots.  All of this amazing almost wild landscape set off with a classic porch, red bricks, and shutters.  I turned my bike around and immediately took pictures!  I used a bit of medium yellow, Kelly green, permanent rose, and phathlo blue in this poured watercolor.  After pouring, I did just a bit of puddle watercolor painting to finish it off.  This was a very fun painting to do.  Please check out the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase), click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have, and thanks for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.67"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.67"; Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

I started this poured watercolor with a bit of medium yellow to add a bit of sunny undertone.  Then I mainly worked in light green, kelly green, and a VERY watered down indigo blue.  I finished off with a bit of puddle painting in kelly green and indigo blue. To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase), click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.66"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.66"; Watercolor on 10" X 11" Paper

I used the puddle style of watercolor painting for this.  It seemed appropriate to use this style when there were all kinds of puddles of light and shade over the lawn and front of this house because of large nearby trees.  It was the bright red door that drew me in on this porch, and then my eyes caught the touches of red flowers.  It was a fun porch to paint.  To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase), click here.  Thank you for stopping by.