Learning curve less each time.

“Yellow Church” 6x8 oil on panel – SOLD

This is a poor image with little color and is too dark. When I return, I´ll replace it with one that better represents the work.

This yellow church in the old colonial part of the city of Bogota made me think of Van Gogh’s yellow house. This is the third and probably the final painting I will get to do while in Colombia.

Compared to the previous two pictures, this one I found myself getting used to the different brushes and tolos than I usually use. Doing cityscapes is also very different than doing the landscapes I am used to doing. I think I want to try this in a larger size and use brighter colors, now that I am used to painting this structure.

When I moved to Indiana from California, I remember how difficult it was to learn to use the new light and colors. Compared to California, Indiana was very green and I had to learn how to deal with all the green. In Colombia, the process is much the same -- now I am having to learn how to handle shapes instead of broad plains of color intersecting on a flat Indiana landscape.

The good thing is, I notice the learning curve this time is less than when I moved from California.

Different perspective

“Iglesias de Monserrate” 6x8 oil on panel, SOLD

This is my second attempt at painting in the different light and with different tools than I am used to using in Indiana. With this one I became more free with the paint.

I worked from a picture because I wanted a different persective than most people see this church. It sits about 1500 feet strait up a mountain and is used as a way of knowing where one is when in the city of Bogota. If you look up and the church is to your left, you are in south Bogota, to your right, you are in the north.

By using a photo, I was able to zoom in and place the church on the top of the mountain and make it the focal point, not the enourmous mountain below it.

New light, new color, new place

"South Bogota Barrios" $75 -- SOLD
This is the first time I have attempted to paint when traveling a long distance. I found that a new place with new light and different terrain -- in this case mountains -- I was much more reserved in my approach to the subject.

It required me to solve new problems that my subjects in the woods of the Midwest do not present. Here I had to figure out a way to paint the thousands of homes and still give a hint that they are homes. The majority of homes are red tile with a few that have color. In a small 6x8 inch oil on panel, using an impressionistic style, I decided to treat the mass of homes a mass of color, and only hint at the vertical and angular roofs for the homes in the foreground.

I also used a few splaces of color for the few homes that were painted blue. This appears loose, but the reality is it felt very tight to paint and I hesitated much more than ususal as I struggled to solve more problems than usual in a single painting.

Canvas verses smooth painting surfaces

5x7 oil on canvas
$20 "Flag with pencils"
To purchase this painting, see Contact Us at http://www.avonwaters.com/.
I'm not flag waving patriot. Interestingly enough, it wasn't until recent history that the display of the American flag became so popular. A historical look at its use shows that today it is displayed more than in the past.

This study uses local color and is a little more realistic than I usually paint. I had some 5x7 canvases that I wanted to use. I'm not sure I like canvas when it is used on small pieces – I think I prefer smooth panels for smaller pieces. To me, the canvas texture is too large for the subject. On larger pieces I don't mind using thin paint and having the texture show through, but here I think it distracts from the subject.

Picking a background color

$40 oil on canvas, "Stuffed toy": to purchase this painting see http://www.avonwaters.com/ and "Contact Us."

Unlike previous still lifes, this stuffed animal gave me a chance to do something different. The curves, folds and colors not associated with fruit or vegetables gave me a chance to work on color relationships.

The still lifes are a nice break from landscapes, especially when the cold weather makes it more difficult to work outside or in a cold studio where the heat has been off all week. With each still life I do, I struggle with color. Since I have a desire to use exaggerated color, or expressionistic color, I must pick a color scheme and then try to make it work with the local color of the subject. But it does set up a problem to solve and for me, solving each problem in each painting is interesting for me.

Adding color when little exists

"Foggy morning across the reservoir" This 24x36 oil on canvas was done from a series of photographs taken on one of several warm winter days. This is from the deep wooded area down one of the many access roads in the Mississenwa State Recreation area. It is near the USGS tributary called Rocky run.

The distinctly yellow color comes from an exaggeration of the yellow light of that particular day. Exaggeration of color becomes necessary for me as a result of the grayness of the typical Midwestern winter.

The violets come from the reflection of light of bare trees. This too is an exaggeration that comes from only the hint of violet as the dominate color among the winter grays.
SOLD