A Slice of the Artist's Life

Study of lemon slice

Most of my painting time is taken up with teaching composition the last few weeks. Working out the compositions, shopping for fresh replacements of eggs, fruit, etc. ....and hauling everything to and from class....exhausting! Well worth the personal discoveries I see my students making, though.

This still-wet study is approximately life size of the actual lemon slice. I think, to explore the subtle color variations, you need enough room for your brush to make a color statement.

Fingernail sized fruit, flowers, vegetables, etc. fail to entertain.

PaWa Saturday

Well, today I went to the tulip fields to paint with my colleagues in Plein Air Painters of Washington. I saw some other painters out there, and I know we were supposed to meet at noon at Roozengarde, but the light was just what I wanted here at 11:00 am and I had to stay. I actually finished in about an hour.

So many bystanders stopped to chat, take photos and ask directions to Tulip Town that I didn't make it into Roozengarde until 12:45. There were so many tourists there, swarming the parking lot and grounds, that my $4 entry fee was wasted. I didn't recognize anyone in the dining tent so I just went home. Next time, I'll follow my own advice and wait to go on a week day to avoid the crowds.

The good thing is: I went sketch hunting and I caught a good one!

Through the storm

Went to the tulip (or should I say daffodil?) fields after class in Kirkland today......through two major squalls and quite a strong wind out on the flats. Got there about 2:48 pm.

I was looking forward to painting with my friends from PaWa, but I could barely keep my car door open in the wind. So I just went photo sketching and will use this for future studio painting. I'll try again tomorrow.

That's what happens sometimes when you go "sketch hunting".....sometimes you miss!

Grape Hyacinths

From the sketchbook

Looking out the studio window on a (finally!) sunny morning, I can see spring bulbs producing their blooms.

In the middle of the dirt, surrounded by cold air and weak sunshine, my plantings of 4 years ago persevere.

Here's the haiku I wrote to inspire the sketch:

Spring quotes the painter,
"When in doubt, paint purple."
Up come hyacinths!

Painting and Poetry

Music and poetry inspire my work. I write haiku poetry in my sketchbook while working out the ideas of my paintings. I lay no claim to producing anything notable in my poems, especially when you read the words of a master. Here is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it.

Spring is like a perhaps hand
by E. E. Cummings
III Spring is like a perhaps hand (which comes carefully out of Nowhere)arranging a window,into which people look(while people stare arranging and changing placing carefully there a strange thing and a known thing here)and changing everything carefully spring is like a perhaps Hand in a window (carefully to and fro moving New and Old things,while people stare carefully moving a perhaps fraction of flower here placing an inch of air there) and without breaking anything. (from the website Poets.Org)

Edward Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 14, 1894. He began writing poems as early as 1904 and studied Latin and Greek at the Cambridge Latin High School.
At the time of his death, September 3, 1962, he was the second most widely read poet in the United States, after Robert Frost.

Watercolor Demonstration

8x10 Watercolor Demonstration
$100

This is the demonstration of painting a watercolor from your own original plein air oil. (See previous posts for watercolor step by step process of painting still life and landscape on location.)

It was truly a pleasure to present my program to the members of NWWS. If you were there, thank you for coming. Comments are welcome.

Demonstration at NWWS

8x10 Oil on Canvas
Plein Air painting from Lavender Hills Farm.

Typically, artists will make a watercolor field study, then take it to the studio to make a more finished oil painting from it.

In my demonstration for NWWS last night, I reversed the processs, showing how to interpret an oil painting in watercolor.

My topic was "Using Positive & Negative Space in Watercolor". If you would like a free copy of my handout, please request it by email to michelecooper@michelecooper.com

Presentation at NWWS tonight

Here is a section from a handout I am giving to the audience at Northwest Watercolor Society tonight. Click the link for times and location.

I am honored to have been invited to be the guest presenter and am looking forward to seeing friends, guests and colleagues. My program is on "Using Positive and Negative Space in Watercolor".

If you have an opportunity to attend, I would love to see you there.

Color with a little salt

8 x 10"
Still life demo


Another small demo from last week's classes.

We are SO ready for color here in the NW!

Orange and Blue

Small study of an orange.

This was a quick demonstration for one of my classes, in which the "direct" method of watercolor was used.
Charles Reid's work is typical of this technique.