Day 3/100

This is where it stands today. I think it's probably time to let this one rest and work on something else tomorrow. It's easier to tell what needs to be done when you have fresh eyes.

Day 2/100

 Today I concentrated on one piece. Printed a texture on another old surface, but this is the one that received the most attention.

This was where it started. The first layer, which is thankfully obscured, was a truly awful watercolor of an iris. It was a vertical format. Over it I printed a layer with burnt sienna, then another with magenta, and then a third (one of the plates in yesterday's post) with burnt sienna and payne's gray. The colors from the original still show through, but abstracted.

This is where I left off today, after pulling out some of the shapes. I worked with acrylics and watercolor crayons, and it still has a ways to go. Tomorrow I might push this one a little further along or get another piece started. I tend to work best when I have a lot going on at once.

One of the things I am liking in working this way is that nothing is wasted. Not only am I rescuing old paintings from the trash, but at the end of the day all the leftover acrylic paint gets smeared onto a plate so it can be printed. Yay!

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.

******

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.