Hello Again

This poor neglected blog! It's actually surprising to find that it is still here. Having messed with Instagram for a while, I'm missing old fashioned journaling. So here goes.

Last year I found the 100 Day Project really valuable and actually made 100 little gouache monotypes. It was an intro to printing processes for me; very exciting and has made me want to incorporate printing and more mixed media in general into my artwork.

I want to take a run at the 100 Day Project again this year, but don't think completing something every day is a goal I can sustain. Instead, I am aiming to get myself out of a slump by committing to do something every day, working on giving life to old pieces that failed or were not completed for some reason. I have drawers full of work like that! It would feel really good to rescue some of them.

Lately the printing process I've been experimenting with is somewhat related to gelly prints, using a silicone baking surface instead of the gel plate. These can be transferred directly on to old watercolor paintings or on to tissue paper for collage. Today I prepared several "plates" for printing.

Realistic messy studio shot

Here they are, with different types of marks on each one. A limited palette seems like a good way to start, so these all include a good amount of burnt sienna. That should make it easy to use them together.

The plan is to do my day-to-day documentation here and on Substack. I'm hoping to go the distance again this year and to learn as much as I did doing this project in 2025.

Evening Cedar

Ending my long blog break to announce that Evening Cedar was awarded Second Prize in this year's Southwestern Watercolor Society exhibition by juror Ruth Armitage. Thank you, Ruth!

Evening Cedar

watercolor and gouache on gessoed paper

17 x 12.5 inches

This half-bare cedar tree backlit by the sun is another piece that was inspired out in the Big Bend. I can't wait until I go back again. Maybe next year?

BIG news

Big news about a big painting. Or a big reproduction of a painting, at least. 9x28 feet!

I'm happy to be able to share that a painting of mine was selected as the winner of The Catholic Foundation's Art on the Plaza competition. This is an annual contest with the foundation choosing a work of art to reproduce at mural size for their plaza. I'm very honored that my piece was their pick this year.

My painting, titled Continuo, was created especially for the competition. Normally, I don't intentionally do paintings with messages. But with the possibility that this one could become a piece of public art, and given the circumstances that we have all had to face this year, I felt I needed to respond with a piece meant specifically to create a mood of peace and hope.

This is my short statement about Continuo:

The soft focus and quiet coloring recall the morning light and new beginnings, while a gentle ongoing energy is evoked by the texture and rhythmic motion. The continual resilience of grass, able to recover from fire, drought, pestilence or other disasters makes it a symbol of confident hope.

The original painting was executed in watercolor and gouache over an acrylic gesso ground.

The mural will be on display for a year. The wonderful location at 2216 Flora Street in Dallas is in the Arts District, near the Dallas Museum of Art and directly across the street from the Myerson Symphony Center.

Where It Became Clear was selected for the Society of Watercolor Artists 2020 Membership Exhibition. Thank you, juror Janet Rogers.

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There is a second honor that I am now free to announce ... but no image yet. A painting of mine has been selected to be installed as a mural in a courtyard of Cathedral Guadalupe here in Dallas. My very sincere thanks to the Catholic Foundation for this wonderful opportunity.

The cathedral is located in the arts district near the Dallas Museum of Art, and the wall on which the painting will appear faces the Myerson Symphony Center. The mural will be on display for one year. 

After the unveiling on November 5 I'll be able to share some pictures.

Water Media National at the Dallas Metro Arts Contemporary

I'm very happy that two of my Big Bend pieces have been accepted into Water Media National. Thank you, juror Christina Lucas! This will be an actual, physical, see 'em in person exhibition at the Dallas Metro Arts Contemporary Gallery in Plano, and will run from October 6-31.

Where He Turned Away is on the left, and Where She Started Over is on the right.

Where It Became Clear - step by step

I thought I'd share some process shots of a recent Big Bend painting. My use of watercolor is a little different and people are often curious about my process.

 Here's the first stage. On a piece of archival paper primed with acrylic gesso, I've flung and splattered  some watercolors. You can see that I have a general idea where certain colors and darks are going to go, but there are no defined edges and I encourage the paints to flow into one another the way watercolors do. This part is pure fun.

Here I have begun lifing out light areas. Because I'm painting over gesso, all the watercolor is sitting on the surface, not absorbed into paper. This is a two-edged sword. On the plus side, it is very easy to lift the paint. On the other side, the surface is so delicate that it is easy to lift paint even when you don't want to.

Now the pace slows way, way down and work becomes more meditative. I'm considering the edges and adjusting the lights and dark areas very carefully. With this piece, I'm striving to keep the lights and darks within a narrow range.

Here's the finished painting, Where it Became Clear, 9x18 inches, watercolor on gessoed paper. I reworked the the shrub on the left considerably, and made the distant mountains less distinct. The foreground also needed a lot of consideration to get the right color temperature and amount of detail definition.

People always ask how long it takes for me to complete a painting. I never really know. Usually I have 4 or 5 all going at once. Being able to switch from one painting to another keeps my eye fresh and also allows for drying time. It's critical that the painting dries completely between stages. And then there's thinking time. So really the only answer I have is that it takes as long as it takes. Some come easy, and some are slower and more difficult. In my mind, a painting that required a lot of labor is not necessarily more valuable than one that just flowed effortlessly off the brush.

Botanical Art Collective Show at BRIT

I'm very happy that both Live Oak Twig and Jester were accepted into the Botanical Art Collective's Summer Show by curator Erin Starr White. The exhibition would have been held at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, but alas is only online and you know why! See all the other work  here.

Addendum - I'm very happy to report that both of these works sold! I'm also excited that the collector who purchased lives near enough that I can deliver them in person.