A week as Artist In Residence

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been back for more than a week already and still haven’t posted anything here.  I was privileged to be one of two Artists In Residence at the Terrace Inn at Bay View, a Methodist Chautauqua between Petoskey and Harbor Springs here in Michigan.  Artists, if you would like to know more and maybe participate contact Patti at the Inn.  She hosts a different artist every week during the season.

My week – I did a few plein air pieces which is something I haven’t done in a few years and I do want to get back to.  Here they are – by the 5th one I was almost satisfied with what I was getting.

 

I also did some sketching.  I’m happier with those results.  Maybe I should think sketch when I do a plein air piece.

This year the weather wasn’t very cooperative, wet and cold the first 3 days so we took in some lectures.  Lou Seipel was the speaker for the week we were there and her topic was Bridges out of Poverty.  She was a very dynamic speaker and interesting.  Like everything else, communication is key to helping.  We can’t fix but we can learn how to help by learning to communicate.  If you’re interested, there is a website,  www.ahaprocess.com.

I also worked on some monoprint plates but haven’t printed them yet, when I do I’ll post them.   As I was looking through my file for the images from last week I saw the earrings I made with my friend Annie’s help.  I do slide off the  page now and then and these earrings are a testament to that… copper, etched with my designs and finished with heat and colored pencil…

A bit of history about watercolor

Did you know that watercolor painting goes back to the caveman?  He mixed blackened charcoal with water to draw on the cave walls.    I’m headed up to Petoskey, Michigan, actually to Bay View which is a Methodist Chautauqua.  I’m one of two Artists in Residence at the Terrace Inn there and on Wednesday I have to give a talk and demonstration.  I’m going to talk about the history of watercolor and thanks to a bit of my own research and that of a good friend, Sandy Meyer, I think I can pull it off.  I’ll also do a demonstration of the watercolor monoprint process I use because it’s something anyone can do.

But more on the history;  modern use of watercolor began in England in the late 1700s.  Until 1766 watercolors were basically pigments mixed with water-soluble gum and had been sold as dry lumps which had to be grated, then mixed with water.  William Reeves found that honey mixed with gum arabic would stop cakes from crumbling apart and allow them to be molded into regular shapes.  His brother, a metalworker, made molds and in 1766 Reeves and Son opened a company supplying the army and East India Trade Company with the first watercolor paint boxes.

In 1832 Henry Newton and chemist William Winsor added glycerin to the pigment which kept it moist.  Now watercolor no longer needed to be rubbed with water to loosen the pigment but could be used straight from the pan.  Then in 1841 the first collapsible tube was made.  By 1846 Winsor and Newton took off with the idea and started selling all their artists paints (oils included) in tubes.

Interest in watercolor grew rapidly here in the United States and in England.  Many American artists were influenced the the British artists who came to the United States to record its natural wonders and beauty.  By the late 1800s American had inherited from the British a mature technique with unique properties but what they did with it was pure Yankee Ingenuity.  American watercolors exploded in all directions.  Between 1870 and the 1920s some of the most important American artists were using watercolors:  Thomas Eakins and Winslow Homer, James Abbott McNeil Whistler and John Singer Sargent.

Today there are more artists using watercolor than any other medium, even though it is believed to be the most challenging medium.  It’s advantages:  it’s instantly ready to be used, easily cleaned up with water when done and there are no chemical hazards involved with it… an ideal medium.

Here’s another of my watercolor monoprints and if you’re interested, I’ve posted several on my website that are available and affordable.  Here’s a link,  www.helenpercylystra.com.

A bunch of boats & a bundle update

First the bundles; I checked them last Saturday after a week of rain and saw that even though I had coated the matboard substrate front, back and sides with a sealer, a week of rain had the paper separating from the board center.  No matter, I am looking at what happens and not worrying about what happens.  I’ll be checking again tomorrow.  This week has been mostly sunshine though it did rain today.

The rest of the week has been spent working on more monoprints, getting ready for another exhibit that opens June 4.  Six from this week are boats or boat related…

Some time ago I set up an Etsy Account but I haven’t put anything up for sale on it.  I’m thinking of putting some of my monoprints on there.  Has anyone else done Etsy and if so, what do you think?

More monoprinting & another distraction

Last things first, the monoprints that I had to deliver a week ago were for an exhibit that opened last night. It was a good night though I don’t think anything sold.  The exhibit will be up all month so there is still time for someone to buy all of them… wouldn’t that be nice. 

So what have I been doing this week; more monoprints.  I am really enjoying this process and this week got 6 more printed, cut plexi for more plates and began planning some larger. I’m not talking full sheets; however, I have a couple 8x10 plates to work on.  My friend Annie who is the master of experimenting got some great results with fluid acrylics and I know she’ll be doing more this week so she can show me next week.  I’m working on her… she needs a blog so she can share… she is one of the best and I know you all would love to see her work and some images of her wonderful studio. Meanwhile, here are a couple of my favorites from this week.

And the distraction, I’m one of those ADD people; I wonder, aren’t all artists?  Anyway, while I was taking a break from working on my plates I was reading the current issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors which has lots of great stuff in it.  There was an article about bundling lots of different types of paper, fabric, yarn, whatever and putting the bundle outside to see what effect the weather had on everything.  So instead of going back to my painting of plates, of course I had to make a bundle.  But being an obsessive, compulsive type in addition to being ADD, I couldn’t just make one bundle.  I had to make three and I would have kept going but reason took over; I knew I had to stop and get back to monoprinting.  Here are the bundles, I’ve made a note in my journal about what each one is made up of and now I have to find a place to hang them outside, out of the way because this isn’t something my spouse is going to think is a wonderful thing to have hanging in his back yard ;^).  I think they’d be a great addition but I don’t push my luck… it’s actually his gardens in the back yard, he being a master gardener and he is tolerating the fairy door (which I’ll also be working on finishing this coming week.)

More Mono-prints and a sketch

Why have I avoided drawing my grandson?  I have no idea but I finally did a quick sketch this weekend.  We had been out with the kids for a family photo session in a woodland park here in Grand Haven, Duncan Park.  The outdoor air wore the little guy out so while the rest of us were having breakfast, he was snoozing.

I’m going to have to do a painting one of these days. 

Meanwhile, I’m really loving the monoprinting.  Here are a few of my favorites from the 10 I did on Friday.

Now that I’ve seen how they come out using the press I really want to go back and do repeats of some that I did before.  They won’t be the same and I really like both results.  Here is an example of the last one done using a different format and printing by hand.

Do you have a preference?  These are for an exhibit that is opening at the Gallery Uptown May 7.  There will be 10 watercolor artists in the exhibit, all the same medium but vastly different in style.  It’s going to be an interesting exhibit.

What a difference a press makes

This has been a great week, busy but good things happened.  I had my grandson two days which is always good but I also got a lot of art done.  I’ve been doing watercolor monoprints and printing by hand.  I’ve posted some in the past.  This week I did several plates and my good friend Annie Morgan suggested I print them using her press.  That’s what I did today and here they all are hanging on the line drying. 

I still need to scan, cut mats and frame.  So far I’ve gotten one scanned, “The Gang’s All Here.”

I love doing this and I’m happy with the results, especially now that I know I can use a press to print them.  I’ve been doing small ones, this is the largest and it’s just 8 x 8.  This is something I can do while my grandson is here because it’s fairly portable.  At least one of those I finished today is a repeat of one I had done before and printed by hand.  I’ll post those when I get the scanning done.

Mixed Media Symbol

No, this isn’t the instructions on using the hand sanitizer for a transfer.  I’m still working on that; however, I did use the technique in this piece.

I did this piece as a symbol of the rule or way of life to which I feel called through the Beatitudes.  Back in 2008 I joined a group at our church for a study called “Companions in Christ, A small-group experience in spiritual formation.”  It started as a 26 week study.  We finished that first one in 2008 but wanted to keep going and found that there were  several more short studies, part of the same Companions program.   Nine of us are still studying together, challenging ourselves, learning, gaining strength in our faith, questioning.  It’s a great experience, I love everyone one of my 8 other companions and look forward to beginning yet another study next Sunday.  

But before going on to the next study, the last one was on the Beatitudes and making the symbol was the final assignment.   In the study I learned that I am not nearly as well grounded in my faith as I thought I was, there is so much more room to grow.  I made this small wall hanging to hang in a place where I see it every morning when I’m getting ready for my day and every evening when as I get ready for sleep. 

I started with an image of an encaustic painting that I had done awhile back.  I transferred the image to cotton fabric using the hand sanitizer.   I quilted that piece, attached it to a piece of ultra suede which I attached to a piece of lutradur that I had been experimenting with, then a piece of unbleached muslin and finally another quilted piece that I had in my stash of stuff that I didn’t know what I was going to do with.  The words were added under the window… “Window Open, Mind Open, Searching, Creating, Praying.”  These are the things I need to remember, to concentrate on. Searching or learning is represented by the trellis which I’ve made into a ladder.  I’ve put some breaks in it to remind me that falling is ok, I can get back up and there are some places that it would be difficult to step on to remind me that I can keep going even if the road is bumpy.  The last piece I added is a charm dangling on the side, a fish, a reminder that He is always with me.

Now I’m looking forward to the next study, this time we’re moving away from the Companions Series, doing “Invitation to the Psalms.”  I’ll also be working on the instructions for the transfer technique.