A Poured Watercolor: Red Tulips and Bicycle...

I had a bit of fun with this poured watercolor and you will be able to see it in person if you happen to be in Fairfax, Iowa this Saturday.  I'll have a little booth there for the Fairfax USA Days.  So I invite you to come swing by for a bit of art and some Patriotic FUN!  But I call this painting: Red Tulips and Bike.  It's a bit more abstract and I kind of like it that way...

"Red Tulips and Bicycle"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 14" paper.

I would LOVE to hear any feedback you may have and thanks for stopping by!

A Hot Pinkie!!

I'm dreaming and painting bikes as the snow continues to fall outside.  It's just a bit of a case of " cycling on the brain".  Here's my most recent painting that I call "A Hot Pinkie!"  Enjoy!...

"A Hot Pinkie!"; Watercolor on 14" x 17" on Paper.

I used a bit of poured watercolor on the background of this painting.  Then, I used some puddle painting for the bicycle. I will admit that this picture doesn't quite do the original enough justice.  One of these days I need to take a photography class.  I would love to hear any feedback you may have!  Thanks for stopping by.

Porch No. 101

This porch belongs to my good cycling buddies; Bee & Peter.  They asked me about a little over a year ago to do a painting of their house/porch.  I really thought I had managed a bit of a coup when I had them pose on their porch with their dog Astra for No. 100 of the Salt Lake City Porches Project.  I thought it was the perfect way to finish the project and also did a painting of their porch too.  I figured it was all done in one full swoop. 

Then after the January showing of the 100 SLC Porches, they approached me and asked to do a painting of their porch with no people from the front.  I will admit that I dragged my heels.  I was rather burned out on porches by that point.  So, more recently I was approached by another cycling bud to do their porch, I thought that I had better take care of Bee & Peter's porch first.  So here it is....

"Porch No. 101"; Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper.

When I asked how they wanted me to paint it; they said they wanted me to choose.  They did admit to liking my poured watercolors.  Here's one of the photos that I worked off of for their porch.

As you can see, I did a very loose form and played with colors to represent their porch.  I studied the different times of day with the directions of light play.  I also had several different times of year that the photos were taken from.  I will admit I'm partial to the Fall and liked playing with the bare branches of the tree.  Thus, I ended up with the top poured watercolor.  They seemed pleased with adding it to their painting collection. 

I'm currently having a sale on the available 100 Salt Lake City Porches of 25% off.  I'm calling it the RED HOT Summer Sale.  It makes sense when the temps are as high as they've been lately.  You can scroll through the page to look at those available by clicking here.  I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for visiting.  Now on to the next porch for me!

The 4th Annual Bicycle Art Show...

You are invited to a Bike & Art Event...

On

Friday May 18th

from

6 - 9PM

(Photo- "Psychedelically Cranked"; Poured Watercolor on Paper.)

The

4th Annual

 Gallery Roll

Takes Place 
To celebrate National Bike Month, every May,

the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll brings you Gallery Roll.

We encourage everyone of all ages to ride your bikes from gallery to gallery and to enjoy the special Bike Art Exhibit hosted by

 located at 177 East 200 South in Downtown Salt Lake City.

Three of my artworks will be on exhibit and I'll be there to visit with too.

I invite you to come out and enjoy some art, bike talk,

and perhaps a little bike riding too!

Come Join in the FUN!

For more information on Gallery Roll and the 4th Annual Bike Art Show

Back to Biking with Peace, Love, & Flowers...

The Groovi-ness continues, as I prepare for the Little Red Riding Hood Bike Ride in June.  I'm planning on having a little booth with some of my art on sale.  The theme for Little Red this year is Groovy!  Here's my latest creation keeping in with the cycling and groovy theme...

"Back to Biking with Peace, Love, & Flowers"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Cold Pressed Paper.

On this painting, I used a combination of styles.  I did a couple of layers in watercolor pours for the background, the bike seat, the bike seat bag and seat post. I used puddle painting for the rest of the bike.  I limited the colors to yellow, permanent rose, dioxazine purple, and a watered down liquid red watercolor.  I think the ladies at Little Red will like this one!  Would love to hear your feedback and thanks for stopping by!

A Red Big Bad Wolf...

I put the last finishing touches on this painting last night as the wind was howling and the rain was pouring.  It made me glad that I had decided to go for a run at the gym than to push being out in the pre-storm windy weather.  But either way, this painting that I had started a couple of weeks ago finally came together last night as I sat in my cosy, dry apartment.  Yes, I had a bit of painter's block on this painting and that happens sometimes.  But FINALLY I worked through it.   Yeah!  Here's the resulting poured watercolor...

"A Red Big Bad Wolf"; Poured Watercolor on 8" x 9" Cold Pressed Paper. 

I did this in preparation for the Little Red Riding Hood Bike ride that takes place the first Saturday in June.  The Big Bad Wolf is a mascot of the ride.  It's quite a FUN event and I'm really looking forward to it!  I'll have this painting and several others on sale in my booth during that event.

Painting Ideas While Cycling...

The idea for this painting came to me last week as I was riding (struggling) on my bike up Emigration Canyon.  Another cyclists went whizzing by like I was standing still (always makes one feel confidant- NOT!) and on the back of his jersey was this big eye ball.  I thought it looked cool as it disappeared around a bend in the distance. As I continued to struggle up to the top of the canyon on my bike and this idea started to take hold and evolve.  The idea of a crank inside the eye just sounded like a fun challenge and a possibly wonderful poured watercoloring adventure.  Here's the result of all that thinking as I struggled to climb the canyon on my bike...

"Dilated Chainring"; A Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Cold Pressed Paper.

And a BIG Thanks to my friend Jay for helping me to name this artwork; another challenge for me in some cases.  When he mentioned this possible title I thought- PERFECT!  Please feel free to give me any feedback on this interesting bike art work, and thanks for stopping by!

A Psychedelical Direction...

I went in a bit of different direction this last week.  I wanted to try some new ideas and work in an abstract type of form.  I also have been itching to get the liquid watercolors out again.  So in the mix of creating, this is what came into being...

"Psychedelically Cranked!"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Pressed Paper.

The real funny thing is that I would have shown this on my blog sooner but I couldn't think of a name for it.  So thanks to my friend, Kym, and throwing some titles around I finally arrived at a title.  I told her that sometimes putting a title to a piece of art is harder than doing the actual piece.  She didn't agree with my estimation! :)  I welcome any comments and thanks for stopping by.

A Groovy Red Bike...

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"Cycle of Red, Yellow & Tye Dyed"; Poured Watercolor on 11" x 11" Cold Press Paper.

SOLD!!!

Yes, you may recognize this bike as being in another form in another painting.  Yes, it is based on the same sketch as the "Green Betty" painting but I thought it might be fun to do the same bike as a poured watercolor.  I also had new liquid watercolor paints that just came in and I was itching to try them. 

But I really did this poured watercolor with a bike ride in mind.  This year's Little Red Riding Hood Bike ride has a Groovy theme. What's Little Red Riding Hood Bike Ride?  It's an all female bike ride that takes place in the beautiful Cache Valley in Northern Utah.  This bike ride has been going strong for 25 years and has gained popularity.  In fact, when it opened registration this year, the available 3500 slots sold out in less than 2 hours.  I'm going to have a booth at the ride this year.  I thought it might be fun to display some of my bike art along with some of my bike art on cards.  So thus I am gearing up, or cranking up (bike terms), with some bike art to show.  In other words, you'll be seeing more bike art in the next couple of months.

Coffee & Cycling...

Outside of painting and my love of cycling, a close third is coffee.  I find it rather fascinating that I've never done any paintings with a cup of joe in them.  So this last week, I opted to do a painting of a cup of coffee.  You'll see why I call it "A Cup of Lovin' "...

"A Cup of Lovin' "; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper

Then I, of course, did another couple of cycling themed paintings.  Here they are...

"Purple Cycling Gal"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper

I was a bit disappointed with this one after I took off all the masking.  I wasn't as careful with the details of her face and it appears she has a pointy nose and her mouth looks like a huge snarl when in fact it was a big smile.  Well, I might try this one again and see if I can do better.  But I'm very please with how the rest of the painting turned.

"Cycling Buds"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper

This painting was based on a photo of Diane and myself  while on a bike ride last summer.  Diane had taken the photo while we stood together during a break.  It was one of those beautiful days where the two of took the day and decided to take the challenge of a good climb.  A wonderful memory and I gave the painting to Diane as a present.  Though, it really seems to emphasize my pug nose.

3 More Poured Watercolors...

I started these while at watercolor painting class on Wednesday night.  I had hoped to get in a bike ride on Saturday but with wind gust of 61mph I opted out.  Winds like that and bicycling do not mix.  Thus, I found myself indoors, working on poured watercolors during a Saturday afternoon instead of the planned bike ride.  But that was okay and I still had fun.  I really do enjoy doing poured watercolors.  I used the same colors on all three of these pours-- yellow orche, meduim cadium red, and phthalo blue.  It made it easier for paint mixing and pouring.  I welcome any feedback you may have and here they are...

"Breaking Dawn"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Press Paper.

"In Bloom"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Press Paper.

"Garden Wall"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Press Paper.

Poured Watercolor Scenes

This month in Colleen Reynold's watercolor painting class we are focusing on poured watercolors.  We are using the Leslie Redhead's method of poured watercolors.  The poured watercolors I've been working on this prior week are all from photos I took this last summer up in Helena, MT.  While there for the 100 Helena Bike Ride, I went sight seeing in the picturesque downtown area.  Here's poured watercolor versions of the downtown area....

"Sole Sister's Clock"; Poured Watercolor on 8.5" x 10.5" Hot Pressed Paper

"Barne's Jewelry"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Pressed Paper.

I'm finding I still need to work on my mid-value ranges in the poured watercolors.

"Road Warrior 2- The Sly One"

This is the 2nd painting of the Road Warrior series.  I refer to this one as "The Sly One".  It's his expression that makes me think he is sly.  I imagine him as the cool confident type that has a game plan figured out for the entire bike race.  He uses the down hills and those pace lines to his advantage.  Then, at last minute he pulls out all stops and sprints to the finish line.  Here he is "The Sly One"....

"Road Warrior 2- The Sly One"; A Poured Watercolor on 12" x 16" Hot Press Paper.

 Meanwhile, I've been referring to the first of the Road Warrior Series as " Building Anger".  He looks like he's near the end of the bike race and he's trying to use his anger as a final push to the finish line.  Even more amazing to me is that the first one has sold and the paint isn't even dry!  Let me know what you think of the title.  Here's "Road Warrior 1"...

"Road Warrior 1- Building Anger"; An oil on 12" x 24" Canvas- Sold!

"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.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.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.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.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!