Art Show is up, and starting work on new Dream Surreal watercolors

 Got the show hung today, with help from Phil Horning - thanks! And cheering on from a few passers-by in church (UUCM - Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains, in Grass Valley, California). Phew!

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying more breathing space as the pressure to get ready eases off, and have been starting painting on two of my three new pieces. Yesterday I started on night sky with a full moon, behind/among branches - which means the night sky is all in pieces.

I had taped the edges of the sheet, and thought that I could paint my washes right to the edge, and have the tape block it. But I started seeing hints of spreading bleeds of color showing through the tape... and realized that when I get the paper that wet, it acts like sponge, and pulls the paint along, and the tape is no barrier. In fact, now that I think of it, the tape may exert some capillary action on the paint, acting like the opposite of a barrier...

I pulled up part of the tape once the paint had dried enough,  to check whether what I was afraid had happened, had really happened. Yep. The paint bled under the tape. Oh, well. The effect is kind of interesting, though I'd really prefer having crisp edges to having some interesting effects, but I think I can live with it. I am wondering if a better brand of drafting tape would keep this from happening...

I like the moon, though, with a ring around it.

Tech tip: do you want to see this larger? Click on the image to make it almost-full-browser-window size. (This is not the same as "full screen...")

Exhibit: New DreamSurreal Watercolors and Other Work

Now showing, at Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains - in the library - at 246 S. Church St., Grass Valley, California:

                     New DreamSurreal Watercolors and Other Work

 

March 20 - May 15, 2024

by appointment (contact me), or

Reception: Sunday, April 14th: 12:00 - 3:00 pm

RSVP

If you can't get there in person, here's (my attempt at) a virtual viewing.

 

And - to learn more about my art, see more of it, and order prints and other stuff (mugs? jigsaw puzzles, anyone?), this post will tell you more.

Where to find my art + some helpful instructions

I show an extensive range of my work on FineArtAmerica:

My FineArtAmerica gallery

Included are collections of animal portraits, more Dream Surreal watercolors, collages, other abstract pieces,  and other work. (Click the Collections tab under my name, then click the collection you'd like to see more of.)

If there's a piece that you love, you can order prints or greeting cards of it on the FineArtAmerica website, quite easily. If you'd like a mug or a jigsaw puzzle, a phone case or a notebook with this art on it, and all sorts of other stuff - shower curtain, anyone? - that's a little more involved: see instructions below.

And if there's a piece you love, and would love to have a mug (for example) with it on it, but it isn't available on a mug, let me know and I'll add it to available images. You can put your request in a comment, at the end of this post, or contact me:

 Email me

To order mugs, jigsaw puzzles, phone cases, totes, etc:

1) Go to my FineArtAmerica link.

2) Click the Shop tab under my name.

3) There will be a sidebar on the left; under the Search box, there's a dropdown menu that says Department; if you click that you'll see a list: All Departments, and Wall Art, are the top two, followed by Home Decor, Apparel, Phone Cases, Stationery, Lifestyle, Beach, and Totes & Pouches.

4) Click the Department you want, and more options will show up. For example, Lifestyle gives you choices including Totes, Coffee Mugs and Jigsaw Puzzles.

5) Click the option you want, e.g. Coffee Mugs. You will then see, in the central area of the page, a selection of mugs for my various collections. There are more available than are shown on this first page; to see all the available designs, ->

6) click the Collection you want (e.g. Dream Surreal Watercolors). Then you should be able to see all available designs, which will link you to an ordering page. 

IF YOU DON'T SEE THE PIECE YOU WANT (after clicking on the collection), LET ME KNOW AND I'LL ADD IT.

Then -- holy cow! You can customize your piece all sorts of ways. Change the background color; zoom in, or out...

Finished photos of these last four Dream Surreal watercolors

Phew! Taking deep breaths!

After a bit of a saga in trying to get good photos of my new pieces, I finally got good ones. Here they are:

                                 Infinity Horse, Interlaced

 

                                I Think We Must Be Underwater

 

                                A Kindness of Tendrils

 

                                Threaded Through

 Now I'm getting ready to frame them (another saga, but I have my mats and frames now), and will hang my show next week, with these and some earlier Dream Surreal pieces, and some other work. To be decided.

 

Tech tip: do you want to see any of these larger? Click on the image to make it almost-full-browser-window size. (This is not the same as "full screen...")