"Dancing Poppies"11" x 14"
Watercolor and Collage
***See addendum***
This past week I decided to experiment with my favorite California wild flowers, Poppies. However, I was not happy with the intermediate stage and got bogged down. So I thought about Gerald Brommer and collage and decided to cut out some of the Poppies and tear up parts of the half-done background. I arranged the pieces on 300 lb. Arches watercolor paper until I found a harmonious arrangement. I used gel mat medium to glue the pieces to the backing. I need to let this one simmer a while to decide if I want to do any more to this piece.
The Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society Members Show hosted the reception at Rose Shenson Gallery at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara on Sunday. As we left church that day, the skies opened up with the first real rain of the season. I don't believe we've had rain since May. The reception is always outside the gallery, so I wondered how Janice Faulstich and her helpers would pull this one off. They did so beautifully and we had a huge crowd attending. They used portable covers over the deck of the gallery where the food was layed out and over the rows of seats set up for the awards ceremony. I really could not get a good look at the show with so many people and must return. Award winners included friends Myrna Wacknov (second place) and Jeanne de Campos-Rousseau (sponsors award). Jeanne is my fellow exhibitor in Santa Cruz. At the moment our SCVWS website has not yet posted the winners.
An invitation via Facebook resulted in a fortuitous intersection between my bicycle riding life and my art life. One of the women in my bike club replied that she would be leading a ride in the area and they would stop by. Sure enough, when I arrived a bit after the start of the reception, there were my cycling guests with mud trailing up the back of their day-glo green jackets. These hardy souls rode in the rain and made good on Joanne's promise. They enjoyed the art, used the facilities, skipped the buffet line, and went on their way. They made my day!
Addendum: Originally I titled this work "Playful Poppies," but Kathy Cartwright, a superb artist, said they were dancing. I loved the description so much, I've retitled the work. Check out Kathy's wonderful blog and her website.
The Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society Members Show hosted the reception at Rose Shenson Gallery at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara on Sunday. As we left church that day, the skies opened up with the first real rain of the season. I don't believe we've had rain since May. The reception is always outside the gallery, so I wondered how Janice Faulstich and her helpers would pull this one off. They did so beautifully and we had a huge crowd attending. They used portable covers over the deck of the gallery where the food was layed out and over the rows of seats set up for the awards ceremony. I really could not get a good look at the show with so many people and must return. Award winners included friends Myrna Wacknov (second place) and Jeanne de Campos-Rousseau (sponsors award). Jeanne is my fellow exhibitor in Santa Cruz. At the moment our SCVWS website has not yet posted the winners.
An invitation via Facebook resulted in a fortuitous intersection between my bicycle riding life and my art life. One of the women in my bike club replied that she would be leading a ride in the area and they would stop by. Sure enough, when I arrived a bit after the start of the reception, there were my cycling guests with mud trailing up the back of their day-glo green jackets. These hardy souls rode in the rain and made good on Joanne's promise. They enjoyed the art, used the facilities, skipped the buffet line, and went on their way. They made my day!
Addendum: Originally I titled this work "Playful Poppies," but Kathy Cartwright, a superb artist, said they were dancing. I loved the description so much, I've retitled the work. Check out Kathy's wonderful blog and her website.
10 comments:
Your collage dances! It's really striking. Oh how I wish I could have attended the SDWS event. Your story is great!
Kathy, I think "Dancing Poppies" makes a better title! I hope you don't mind that I am adopting your description! Wish you could have been at our event. We have a great group of artists.
Oh Mary, simmer, simmer.. this is so striking especially that its my favorite subject too.. How many poppies can we paint? as many as we want... I love this..It speaks to me.. !
Fun Mary! I like the strong colors and interesting shapes in this one! Dancing Poppies sounds poetic!
Its really nice with the collage! And that biking group sounds like a lovely visit!!
Barbra Joan -- whats so nice is we can paint as many poppies as we want!
Peggy, thanks for the encouragement. It was nice to turn my frustration into an interesting painting. I I like the way the randomly turn pieces worked out.
Nina, nice to hear from you. I like what you are doing at school these days. Thanks for checking in.
What a perfect background for the poppies! Isn't it great when collage just works!
My first impression when I saw this for the first time is that the composition is outstanding. There is such a wonderful design element to this - decorative and balanced. It almost has an art nouveau feel to it. I love it.
My first impression when I saw this for the first time is that the composition is outstanding. There is such a wonderful design element to this - decorative and balanced. It almost has an art nouveau feel to it. I love it.
Charlene, I continue to be surprised that I like the results when I collage.
Barbara, thanks so much for encouragement. I tend to like decorative elements. Great fun to create this one after digging myself into a hole midway through this one.
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