Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
Simon and Garfunlel

I have two sources of inspiration….music of all genres (except rap and hiphop) and silence where I can find it.

As a kid, we used to get new Crayons and coloring books to keep our creativity sparked. Even when home sick from school. My Mom would come back from the store with new coloring books to use. But I kind of liked the pads of plain white paper where I could doodle, explore, create.

I didn’t indulge myself with oil or watercolor painting until later in my life. I recall visiting my parents where they had an art studio set up in one of the upstairs rooms. My Mom liked to oil paint and my Dad made wood-carved birds of different colors and designs. I spent a little time at the easel and found I kind of enjoyed brushing on oil paints and creating an image. It wasn’t great, but I was inspired.

Years later I took watercolor classes and a Russian Impressionist class in oils. Those classes planted the seeds. I have now created my own art studio and can’t wait to dive deeper into different media.

I finally created a space to play. Having moved 1/2 my wood working shop to one end of the building, I created a light-filled corner for painting.

This is one of my first paintings in oil. Its gotten bit beat up over the years.

Many years later, I tried Russian Impressionist style where the scene is dark and moody with edges that receded into the background until they really aren’t there and the viewers eyes just add the edges where they should be. Here is my example from class.

The right edges of the red pot, the bottle and the apples were not painted directly but, rather, they are eased into the background until they aren’t seen. But, you know they are there.

I also took classes in watercolors which I found are challenging to work with. In watercolors, you must be mindful of the paint flowing with the water, the overlay and transparency of the medium. You can’t just paint over something like with oils or acrylics. I also played with different papers and textures combined with different watercolors. This one is inspired by the exercise equipment left by the beach near our home. We called it our 24 Hour Fitness!

Watercolor takes a lot of patience and time. And any mistakes you make, well, they become features. This one is titled Lunchtime. Its still in progress. A view at Alki Beach looking toward the city.

I am impressed with artists who have a good command of watercolors, how to capture light, depth, movement or perspective. I just keep practicing with colors and how they flow together, change hues, and highlight different areas on the paper.

One assignment I had from class was to capture light. I found inspiration in an Alaska Air photo contest. One photo was of the backs of sun seekers. I saw interesting light defining the curves of the girls. This was a very difficult paining, trying to get the skin, light and curves correct using watercolor.

These are just a starting point. I guess I dream of being able to submit my work to a show someday….