Here are a couple of immigrants who have settled in to a glorious existence in my garden. They get along very well in this country and certainly reward all efforts on their behalf with show after show of exuberant beauty.
For some reason the thick paint on this canvas doesn't show in the reproduction but if you like think paint, marigolds and petunias this one is for you.
As you know I am in the process of trying to figure out what kind of water colors I want to make. The first one I did I wet the whole paper, made a loose water color of the scene and then after it was dry put a pen and ink drawing over it.
ALIUM 2015
Next day I went outside and decided to start off with the pen and ink sketch. I had a new selection of calligraphic pens that I was eager to try. I sketched in the drawing with the pens and then using a rather larger brush then I wanted to (because that was what I had) I began to fill in the colors. The pens, which I had selected because they were supposed to be water proof, were not, so all the water colors turned a bit dark and the lines fuzzy. After the paint was dry I went in again and did some more pen and ink. This is a scene by my pool. The whole thing has gotten so fussy I'm not sure that is even visible.
BY THE POOL
Things had gotten out of hand so I decided to simply play with the colors and pens at this point. This was a lot of fun.
DANCE
water color on Arches cold press
9" x 12"
Nancy Herman
$100.00
Next day I hunted around my studio until I found a small water color brush, made a sketch and painted very carefully these 4 tulips that I have been longing to paint since early spring. Nothing loose about this and no pen and ink. Today I will try another version of this scene. I have to admit this was also a lot of fun. So where I am heading I do not know.
This year I had a bumper crop of beautiful Alium. I didn't get around to making any oil paintings of it....at least not yet, but I did experiment with a water color. I have been thinking about making some water colors for some time and have now assembled all the supplies I need to get started. I think what I want to do is very loose water colors with pen and ink, after considering many methods. This is my first stab at it. The water color does not end abruptly on the sides as it does in the photo but blends into the paper as in the bottom and top. My scanner isn't wide enough to include all.
All colors have their own place on the continuum from dark to light and purple is the most pure at the dark end of that continuum, making these Allium glow in the dark.
Since I began painting this group of work centered around fog, I have been thinking of all the ways perception, influenced by one parameter only can be altered. Fog is a good metaphor as it diminishes the distance you can see radically and yet keeps the immediate surroundings recognizable. You see just beyond your own nose. You don't get the big picture. Those around you see the same things you do, so you agree about what reality is.
Our perceptions are always colored by one fog or another. Some large examples are the fog of prejudice, ignorance, envy, greed or fear. But we all have our own set of convictions that keep us in a fog. Whatever the fog that puts a veil over our eyes, it keeps us from enjoying the long view, but may be very satisfying in its limited way.
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