Original art to fit your budget

"Fair Winds"
Original Watercolor 5x7"
Framed Size 8x10" sold

Do you have a small space, small budget or small car?

Purchasing a miniature or small painting will fit any of these circumstances! These two minis are on exhibit at Gallery North in Edmonds for the month of March, along with a fantastic selection of small works in every conceivable medium. Don't miss your opportunity to own an original from some of your favorite local and national artists.
 
"A Country Mile"
Original Watercolor 5x7"
Framed Size 8x10"

 (Click images to zoom)

Learning from Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer’s watercolor box.  When he died at Prout’s Neck, Maine, his family gave this box and some brushes to Bowdoin College where they still are. See more about Homer's brushes, paper, and other supplies by following the links at the Art Institute of Chicago.

His studio and home at Prout's Neck are scheduled to be open this year.

Artists' Reception this Sunday

Salt & Peppers
Original Watercolor 8x10"
Framed Size 11x14"

Please come to meet the artists and enjoy the annual exhibit of miniature and small paintings at Gallery North in Edmonds.

Sunday, March 4
1pm-4pm

Hope to see you there!

Late Morning Snow Melt

"Late Morning Snow Melt"
15x22"

Class demonstration
by Michele Cooper

Yesterday's class demonstration got a little "tweaking" in the studio this morning. After various pauses to answer students' questions both am and pm, this one moved from a spontaneous wet in wet demonstration to negative painting on the dried paper. Back in the studio, I used some textural devices, such as spatter and scraping with an Xacto knife to balance the softer edges of the original wet in wet passages. The paper was now dry enough to create the dark accents of the tree bark. I usually need some time for thought after the initial painting session to evaluate it and add the "last five strokes". Those who took photos in class can compare, to see the final touches that were added.

Apples

3 apples, north light
7x11
Original Watercolor Demonstration
by Michele Cooper

I painted this as a demonstration for one of my classes. Even though the subject was in north light, the photo comes out a lot cooler in this photo than the actual color of the original artwork.

Tip: Click the photo for enlargement

Markers

Found still life photo
by Michele Cooper

I was taking a walk around the block in downtown Seattle yesterday when I found the perfect autumn still life right there on the sidewalk.

When I make my painting, I think I will call it "Markers", since fallen leaves are a sign of the season....and they just happened to arrange themselves like this around one of the geological markers on the sidewalk.

November Studio Open House Postponed

Section of "Apples and Lilacs"
Original watercolor by Michele Cooper

This November would be the 17th Annual Studio Open House at Michele's NW Studio. I regret to announce that this occasion will be postponed until further notice due to uncertain circumstances regarding family obligations.

We will welcome you all at another time in the next several months.

How to Rebind Your Moleskine Sketchbook

I'm participating in the 2012 Sketchbook Project. The paper that came with the official sketchbook is too thin for me to use with watercolor, so I replaced it with Fabriano Artistico and used a simple binding method to make sure it holds up to many (I hope) page turnings.

Here's the method I used to bind my sketchbook with watercolor paper. Watch on YouTube if you want to see it full screen.

If you think you'd like to try this project, see my other posts regarding the Sketchbook Project. Please let me know if you have any questions....or send me a link to your sketchbook. I'd love to see how it's coming along so far.

House Portrait

8x10" Original Watercolor
House Portrait Commission
Sold

June is such a busy month! I KNEW it would fly by with so much to do.

Above is a commission I finished on Friday for a client. There are a few things added that weren't there and quite a few things edited out of the original reference. I gave them nice big pots of flowers, judicious pruning of the existing foliage and lots of warm, homey atmosphere.

Sketchbook Project in Seattle this weekend

Here's a link to the project in Seattle on vimeo.
The pages on the left are from the theme "In Flight" by Julia Jandrisits.

We were there on Saturday and it was a crush! The owner, curator, of the gallery said there were 120 visitors on Friday and probably around 250 expected by the end of the day Saturday. We were there around 1:30 and there was a line out the door, people reading and sitting on the stairs inside and on chairs and ledges outside.

One of the co-founders, Steven Peterman, was at the door while we were there and told us how the books were transported from city to city.

Read the article in the Seattle Times with a few photos from the show. Just saw something on the Project website that reports 1,000 viewers over the 3 days in Seattle.

If you missed it, there's a digital library where you can view the ones that were digitized so far. I'll be reading a lot of these, since I didn't get my fill at the gallery.

(I have mine rebound with empty pages ready to go for the 2012 tour)