Watercolors
2011 New River Biennial Juried Exhibition - Honorable Mention
I entered three pieces for this juried exhibition and was very happy to have one selected.  Since this was the first juried exhibit for which I made the grade, just the selection felt like a win.  When the awards were announced and I was given an honorable mention out of the 39 pieces that made the final cut, I was totally thrilled.  
The Model was first done as a 20-minute sketch during a live model drawing group.  I later transferred the sketch to watercolor paper, took a half-inch brush full of color and set about to produce her in a much more free style than I normally use.  I guess it worked well since I was able to earn the honorable mention in the 2011 New River Biennial Juried Exhibition at Jacksonville Art Center.
Date: 2011
Size:
Paper: Montvale watercolor
Prints: None
Price: NFS

Shadow Woman  is a watercolor batik featuring rice paper, watercolor, ink, acrylic and wax.  The wax is removed after all the creative processes are complete. This piece won third place in July 2011 "Expressions" exhibit of 52 pieces for the Blacksburg Regional Art Association.

 

Date: 2011

Size:

Paper: Japanese rice paper

Prints: none

Notecards: none

Price: $250 framed

Looking Back is my first venture into watercolor batik on rice paper.  The figure comes from my work with a live model. The effect with the red paint is created by using two layers of melted batik wax and a layer of red paint.

 

Date:

Size:

Paper: Japanese rice paper

Prints: None

Note Cards: None

Price: $..... for sale by St. Pierre Gallery in Floyd, Va.

Amour et Psyche is a study after the sculptural work of Antonio Canova during the 1800's. This painting was a great challenge to me, takin several months to finish with encouragement from my friend and mentor www.monicawatercolors.com. It won a first place in fine arts category in a show on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in 2009 and is probably my all-time favorite.

 

Date: May 2007

Size: 20.5 x 13.5 unframed

Paper: Handmade French

Prints: None

Note Cards: None

Price: Not for Sale

 

◊

Face in the Fountain is from a photo I took in a small village near Wildflecken, Germany, while visiting with my dear friend Gerlinde. The blue came from years of water running over the stone carving.

 

Date: 2008

Size: 20.5 x 13.5 unframed

Paper: Handmade French

Prints: None

Note Cards: None

Price: $200

 

◊

Spanish Dancers

I first saw the photograph of this scene in a 2005 "Stars and Stripes" newspaper travel section in Europe. The photographer was Peter Jaeger whose work often appears in this publication.  I loved its color and action and focus only on the skirts and feet.  A challenging project, my mentor www.monicwatercolors.com guided me through the frustrating times.

 

Date: October 2007

Size: 11 x 16.5

Paper:

Prints: None

Notecards: None

Price: Original $350

 

◊

 

Cliff House

I got up on a cold, blustery morning and walked to a spot for a good perspective on this house and took the photo with my hands and camera sticking through a wrought iron fence. The rocks in the foreground are done with Japanese rice paper soaked in glue and water and then painted over.

 

Date: 2007

Size: 17 x 24

Paper: Handmade French

Prints: None

Note Cards: None

Price: $175

 

◊

French Castle Still Life

What a fascinating day! I was a guest for Sunday lunch in a private castle near Mery sur Cher, France, a couple hours south of Paris. My French fresco teacher and her husband invited my friend and I to join them at their friends' home--the castle!  While touring the huge place, we walked down circular steps in the tower and this window in the three-foot-thick walls presented itself, the contents looking as though they, too, had been sitting in place for hundreds of years.

 

Date: 2005

Size: 13 x 18

Paper: Handmade French

Prints: 20 x 16

Note Cards: $2.50 each or $8 set of 4 nicely packaged

Price: Prints $48, original not for sale

 

◊

Winter Road

I did this painting in a class with artist Beverly Nevers in Germany.

 

Date: 2005

Size: 12 x 9

Paper: Torchon 130 lbs.

Prints: None

Note Cards: None

Price: Original $125 unframed

 

◊

Santorini

I spent a week on the Greek island of Santorini in 2004 and just loved it. This painting is of Fira, the largest of three towns. A fascinating volcanic island with houses built right into the cliffs and rooms carved out of the stone.

 

Date: 2004

Size: Original 13 x 18

Paper: Handmade French

Prints: 20 x 24

Note Cards: $2.50 each or $8 for set of 4 nicely packaged

Price: Original sold. Prints $115

 

◊

Virgin Mary

This portrait of the Virgin Mary is taken from the Jacopo Pontormo painting of The Deposition done in 1525 and hanging in the Church of Santa Felicita, Florence, Italy. It  depicts the carrying of Christ to the Sepulcher and the sadness of Mary.  I first rendered her in fresco and then transferred her likeness to paper using the same "poncive" process.

 

Date: 2004

Size: 9 x 12

Paper:

Prints: None

Note Cards: None

Price: Original $100 unframed. $150 framed in a restored antique gold frame from France


◊

Bird in Fountain

Our fresco class visited Orvieto, Italy, and took a break next to this stone wall. The dove followed suit. All of us in possession of digital cameras, rushed to turn them on before the bird flew. The only one who got the photo was the one with the old-fashioned 35mm with its instant on action!

 

Date: 2005

Size: 9 x 12

Paper: Arches 140 lbs

Prints: None

Note Cards: None

Price: Original $125


◊

Marble Beauty

This was a practice piece done before Amour et Psyche.  These two paintings made me fall in love with Daniel Smith paints in Seattle, Washington.

 

Date: 2006

Size: 5 x 7

Paper: Cotman 140 lbs

Prints: None

Note Cards: None

Price: Not for sale

 

◊

 

Poppies and Steps

I had the privilege of spending several weeks in Italy studying fresco and watercolor under two wonderful teachers. We lived and painted in a lovely stone house called Casa San Martino. A few miles away was a very old, rustic house owne◊d by a Canadian lady and her husband. She is known as the lemon lady because she paints mostly lemons and does it very well. We were invited there to hear about her painting, see the house and grounds and eat wonderful fresh deep-fried sage leaves. The steps and poppies were at the edge of the lush, informal garden bank beside the house.  To do the sage leaves mix a bowl of regular flour, pour some fizzy water (mineral with bubbles) into the flour to get a sort of pancake-batter consistency.  Mix well.  Have about an inch of oil heating in the frying pan.  Pick large sage leaves straight from the plant, dip both sides into the flour mixture and fry quickly.  Remove when a bit brown, sprinkle with salt and enjoy with a glass of wine or champagne.  Wonderful!  As for the ancient Italian steps to eat them on, you'd better start looking!

 

Date: 2005

Size: 9 x 12

Paper:

Prints: 11 x 14 $23 unframed

Note Cards: $2.50 each or $8 set of 4 nicely packaged

Price: Original sold

Madison

My friend Diana sent me a photo of her first grandchild.  It took me a while to get the courage to paint it, but I love her wide-eyed look at the world.

 

Date: 2005

Size: 12 x 19

Paper:

Prints: none

Note Cards: None

Price: Sold

 

◊