August in the time for my annual art retreat in Traverse City and for the past several years I've done acrylics and collage or a combination of both. This year I decided to downsize my supplies and just take watercolors.
I took along my ipad because I had seen a demonstration on watercolor abstracts that looked interesting and wanted to have a better look. I didn't find it but did come across an interesting demonstration on healing stones by Jean Haines and decided to give it a try.
Why? I'm not sure but as I write this I'm thinking about the first time I swam in Lake Huron. There were so many stones on the shore that we had to walk out on sandbags to get to an area that was just sand. A childhood memory that always makes me smile. I've seen the shore of Lake Huron several times since that day in Jeddo and every time the stones were a reminder. I expected to see the same thing when I moved over to the Lake Michigan side of the state, not a stone in site but the water was still delightful. Not so good for swimming but great fun to play in the waves.
The painting above was my first try at her technique though I didn't really follow it. The next one I did watch what and followed direction, or at least tried. I didn't particularly like the result but found doing the stones very meditative so I kept at it.
I like the third piece a bit better...
And I really liked the meditative part so I moved on to 4 and 5...
And by number 6 I began thinking doing a bit every morning would be a good way to start the day before moving on to more serious paintings. These stone pieces have become a way for me to do some experimenting with more of my watercolor colors and texture techniques. Texture is another love.
This one is almost done but I keep seeing more stones. I may end up overworking so I'd best quit while I'm ahead.
