Hurray For Our Side!
“Hurray for our side!”……That’s what my Dad would say when someone in the family accomplished something worth crowing about. All of us knew just what he meant: he was proud and wanted us to know that. When I got the news that “The Fierce Call of Morning” (12×18 woven watercolor on yupo) was accepted into the 2021 Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration exhibit of the Tennessee Watercolor Society, I was sure I heard Dad celebrating with me with that expression. Then it got even better this week when I was invited to attend a virtual zoom awards presentation where I was pleased to receive an Honorable Mention award. Yep, there was Dad, cheering once again. On-line only, the exhibit represents some of the finest watercolor in the South. Hurray for my side! You can enjoy the exhibit in its entirety here.
I have been experimenting with woven watercolors since January 1, 2018
when I decided to try “something different” for the new year and did a small piece I called It’s a New Day which now lives in Springfield, Missouri. I have lost track of how many I have done since ,but they are fun, challenging, and surprising. The technique involves painting two paintings about the same size and similar or complementary subject matter, then cutting the two in opposite directions and weaving them together. The result is hard to envision in advance and some end up in the recycle bin! This one didn’t!
On a weekend following a number of days doing relatively non-creative tasks, my insides demanded some play time. A very energizing exercise for me is to do one of my woven paintings. To do this, I generally paint two paintings, often on yupo, that have some similar elements in color and/or line. Yupo is a synthetic material that has a very hard non-absorbent surface that does not act at all like traditional watercolor paper. It is hard to control but results in very vibrant lively color that I love to work with. After painting and letting them dry well, I slice the two paintings in opposite directions and then weave them back together. The fun part is that I never quite know what the finished piece will look like. Ok, it’s not always fun but it sure can be interesting…..This is one of those surprises. It could remind the viewer of a spectacular sunrise or sunset, thus the title “Solar Flare.” The image itself is 10×14 and it is matted and framed to 16×19. You can see more woven watercolors