Friday Finds: When you can't paint ...

This past week has not been conducive to painting. Family circumstances dictate a lot of time in places where one cannot just open up a palette and go at it.

However, watercolor hasn't been off my mind. I've just had to limit my watercolor activity to reading. Here are a few gems I've picked up:

1. Signature Canvas has a new watercolor surface called Aqua-Fuze. It's a 140-pound Arches cold-pressed paper bonded to foam core and acid-free Gatorboard.The product gets a good review in the February 2011 issue of Watercolor Artist magazine. I've looked for it in Louisville and Bloomington and haven't found it yet online, but I'll let you know as soon as I do because this looks interesting.
2. Clearing the wrapping paper and ribbons from the studio was on my to-do list, but my cleanup now has new purpose since reading "A Place for Everything" in the January/February issue of The Artist's Magazine. Michael Chesley Johnson writes about organizing one's studio according to workflow. He suggests setting up work space with areas dedicated to raw materials, production line, inventory, shipping and waste disposal. It makes a lot of sense. The article offers good advice and recommendations for new and used organizational pieces.
3. Putting my Preston Arts Center gift card to good use, I bought Watercolor Painting Outside the Lines: A Positive Approach to Negative Painting by Linda Kemp. The book was published in 2003 but it was new to me. It is an excellent instructional resource for negative painting. I often start with a negative painting approach but too often I slip into painting the positive shapes. I intend to work through several of the exercises before incorporating some of the activities into upcoming classes.

Friday's Finds: Food, Friends and Family

Too much Food to prepare for Friends and Family. No time to blog on Christmas Eve.

Besides you all have your own Food, Friends and Family to enjoy right now.

See you next Friday.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Friday's Finds: And the winner is ...

... Pantone 18-2120 Honeysuckle!
Earlier this week, Pantone LLC named Pantone 18-2120 Honeysuckle the color of  the year for 2011.
The color authority Pantone describes Honeysuckle as a "vibrant, energetic hue" and as a "dynamic reddish pink."

I'm a bit confused because where I come from anything called honeysuckle evokes the Yellow Family. So here is the color swatch.

Now my challenge to you is to identify the name of the watercolor paint that best approximates Pantone 18-2120. Click on Comments below and register your opinion.

In the Favorite Quote category
My nominee for Best Quote about Watercolor would be: "Watercolor is a swim in the metaphysics of life... a mirror of one's own character. Let it be unpredictable and colorful." I stumbled across this anonymous quote on the Painter's Keys Web site: http://painterskeys.com. The quote captures the allure of the medium for me.

And finally, here's my entry in the Best Bumper Sticker contest:

Success! Moving Ahead



"P'ri Hagafen" wins 3rd place in KWS Show

 Success
Last week ended on a high note! The Kentucky Watercolor Society presented a third place to  "P'ri Hagafen," which is part of the organization's New Member Show. I'll have fun spending the $30 gift card to Preston Art Center. Thank you, Preston Art Center and KWS.

Actually, the prize was just the icing on the cake. The painting sold within an hour of being posted on this blog. So now I can say I have sold online.  I am also very pleased that the painting "spoke" to my friend, Lynne.

About the title: "P'ri Hagafen" is the transliteration of  the Hebrew words for "fruit of the vine." It is part of the blessing said every Shabbat over the wine.

  

Close-up



 
Moving ahead

I have been rushing holiday preparations to allow some studio time because I've been eager to try "optical mixing." I read about this technique in a book called Watercolor: Creative Techniques, which I recently purchased at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The book was written by Josep Asuncion and Gemma Guasch and translated from Spanish by Eric A. Bye.




A little distance improves helps image to appear.

Reference photo is on left.


Yesterday I finished preparing the grid and put down enough paint to make me believe a good picture might result. This will definitely be one to be viewed from a distance.



Friday's Finds: A little bit of everything



 Like many Bloomington Watercolor Society members, I now have a collection of Artist Trading Cards too beautiful to store in a drawer. The first step was putting the cards into 9-pocket pages, but all that did was organize them. I wanted a binder worthy of the miniature artworks I had acquired at the Holiday Party! I found what I was looking for at Target: a 1-inch binder made by greenroom "with paper containing 100% recycled fiber and printed with nontoxic soy-based ink." The price was right, too. $5.99. I haven't had a binder this pretty since 6th grade.

Looking for gifts or something for your own walls? Head on over to the IU School of Fine Arts Building this afternoon or early evening for the Holiday Art Auction. IU faculty and students have donated photographs, prints, ceramics, textiles and other media for the auction, which is in the IU SoFA Gallery. From noon to 4 p.m., you can purchase any item at the "Buy It Now" price. The Silent Auction starts at 6:30 p.m. and will end about an hour later. Refreshments will be served during the Silent Auction.

Looking way past the holidays, I found an affordable workshop that sounds intriguing. Judy Mudd will be presenting "Painting Children's Portraits from Photos" Feb. 9-10 at the Kentucky Watercolor Society Gallery in Louisville. The workshop runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and costs $85. It's inexpensive enough that you could book a hotel room and have yourself a midwinter getaway. The workshop will cover contour drawing and improving accuracy with a Prospek tool, mixing colors on paper to achieve flesh tones, and instructions on painting eyes, lips, noses, ears and hair. For more nformation, call Sue Hinkebein at 502-458-5043 or send a check payable to KWS to Sue Hinkebein, 2015 Gardiner Lane, Louisville, KY 40205.

If you're in Louisville tonight, stop by the New Member Show at the KWS Gallery at the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center, Suite 121, 1860 Mellwood Ave. The Opening Reception is 5 to 7 p.m. with the awards presentation at 6 p.m. I'll be there, hoping for better driving weather than last weekend when I delivered the paintings!

Vodka? You've gotta be kidding



P'ri Hagafen
21 X 14
Framed
$250



Sunflower Bouquet
14 X 20
Framed
$250

When I awoke Saturday to 4 inches of snow and a weather report that promised snow, sleet and freezing rain, the last thing I wanted to do was drive to Louisville. But that is exactly what I did because I had the paintings above to deliver to the Kentucky Watercolor Society.

My reward was an opportunity to chat with Rita Stout, the chair of the show, about some unusual techniques for watercolor painting: blowing paint onto the paper through an atomizer, sanding watercolor pencils on to a wet surface, using vodka to transfer an inkjet-printed photo to watercolor paper.

Vodka? What? Rewind that conversation. Surely I heard wrong.

Rita was already browsing the KWS lending library for Karlyn Holman's Watercolor -- The Spirit of Spontaneity, which describes the technique. I felt destined to try this technique since I recognized the book as one I had just bought at Border's closing sale in Bloomington.

Here's how it works:

Step 1

Step 1: Print the image you want to include in your painting on an inkjet printer. I used photographs of some of my original watercolors. Because I was working on Artist Trading Cards, I printed them out as wallet-sized images but you can use any size you want.


Step 2

Step 2: Turn the printed image face down on your watercolor paper. Use a stiff brush to apply the vodka to the back of the printed image. The sheet will become transparent as the vodka is applied, making it easy for you to decide how much of the image you want to transfer.

Step 3

Step 3: Lift the paper and you'll see a reversed image of the original. If the image has numbers or letters, you will need to "reverse" the image with your photoediting software program before printing.

Now you can use watercolors, caran d'ache, watercolor pencils or acrylics to embellish the image.

I liked the results so much that I poured a splash of vodka into a cup for my 13-year-old -- something I never thought I'd hear me saying -- and had her try the transfer while I took the photos seen here.

Enjoy!

Friday's Finds: What I've learned this week!

The "at-your-fingertips" part.  See below.

  Today's list of what I learned this week covers far and near and at your fingertips -- literally!

Far -- but still within driving distance: The Art Institute of Chicago will exhibit its entire collection of John Marin's works Jan. 23 to April 17. "John Marin's Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism" includes 120 paintings covering his early traditional work through his later more abstract works. Mark your calendar now for a winter trip to Chicago, but for now check out the AIC Web site at http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/exhibition/Marin.

Near: Tonight is the last Gallery Walk of 2010. Head to downtown Bloomington between 5 and 8 p.m. Hop on and off the Gallery Walk shuttlebus or -- better yet -- stroll around admiring the holiday lights as you make your way to 10 galleries that are ready to welcome you.  Buy local for the holidays!

At your fingertips: While working on Artist Trading Cards with friends earlier this week, Jeanne Dutton demonstrated this really handy gadget for cutting. You hold it like a pencil and the blade cuts wherever you point your finger. I sure wish I had known about this tool when I was handcutting Hebrew letters for dreidels. View a product video at http://store.scrapbook.com/f-12-6305.html.

Friday's Finds: Gratitude

About 15 years ago, Oprah had lots of us keeping "Gratitude Journals," an exercise in focusing on what's best in our lives. Although my "Gratitude Journal" has long vanished, this Friday following Thanksgiving has me once again contemplating three things I am grateful for. And as 2010 draws to a close, my thankfulness has taken on a watercolor theme.

1. I am grateful for the hundreds of people who have entered my life through watercolor circles: classmates and students, members of BWS, KWS and WSI, workshop participants and instructors. I have even reconnected with high school friends at shows and in classes. In many cases, the friendships have gone beyond our art; we have propped up each other during illnesses of parents and children, we have cheered on our children as they pursue their endeavors, and we have inspired each other to take better care of the world we live in.
2. I am grateful some of those watercolor friends pass on great tips like this one: Today, Friday the 26th, Wishful Thinking is having a storewide sale. At checkout, you will get an additional 5% to 50% off your entire purchase, including already discounted merchandise. Oh yeah, the staff is serving free cookies and hot apple cider all day, too. The store is at Old School Way and Main in downtown Nashville, Ind., and is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (I hate to miss this one, but I'll try to make up for it with a visit to Preston Art Center in Louisville that day.)
3. I am grateful watercolor is an interest I now share with both my daughter and my mother. I love seeing their views of our world, and I look forward to a spring outing to Sycamore Springs -- just the three of us to paint a day away.
4. I am grateful that watercolor enriches my experience of life. When I am actively painting, I see the world differently. Sunsets are more than daily occurrences; they become mental exercises as I figure out how I would try to capture that effect on paper. Sometimes I think watercolor artists need  bumper stickers warning people behind them that the driver just may be "seeing" something that they are missing.
5. I am grateful for my digital camera, which now allows me to immediately print an image from one of those drives mentioned in the preceding paragraph. No longer do I have to wait for film to be developed or to weigh whether to "waste" the roll of film to get the image I want. And most important, I know whether I have the image I want to paint from and I can delete the rest. I figure I've saved thousands of dollars in film and developing costs (of course, art stores have "picked up the slack").

Oops, I've quickly exceeded the limit of three things to be grateful for, so I will stop. I hope you all have had a lovely holiday with family and friends, and even if it hasn't included painting, it has at least allowed you some time to recharge and/or find some new inspirations.

Friday's Finds: Getting ready for the holidays

The holidays are here! And that means you can find a bazaar most any weekend. This Sunday check out the Multicultural Bazaar at Beth Shalom, 3750 E. Third St., Bloomington. I'll be selling gift bags made from my artwork (three designs, two sizes, beaded handles) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Bazaar has 20 artists/craftspeople plus IU's Fair Trade Global Gifts group. You can buy coffee and bagels until 1 p.m., and cookies are for sale all day.

While we are on the topic of holidays: Some of my friends out there are busily preparing Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) to swap at the Bloomington Watercolor Society's Holiday Party Dec. 6. This "Find" is for you!! Wishful Thinking, a scrapbooking store in Nashville, Ind., sells all kinds of ATC paraphernalia and inspiration. They have books, kits, cards, but my favorite was "The ATC Wizard Tool" that makes the template I shared at the last BWS meeting look lame. The plastic template has outside dimensions, border dimensions, center markings and even perfectly spaced holes in case you want to sew or lace your card. These guys are no amateurs; they had an ATC workshop last week -- so sorry I missed it -- and monthly card swaps. The store is located at Old School Way & Main in Nashville. Its Web site is http://www.wishfulthinking-in.com/. 

My new favorite tool: The Incredible Nib. This Grafix product, which came with a bottle of liquid fisket, had hung out unused in my gadget drawer for several months. I had continued to use an old brush dipped in dishwashing liquid to apply frisket. But inevitably I spent more time than I wanted picking out pieces of latex from the brush bristles. This week I used the Nib to apply the frisket on a snow scene and couldn't believe how easy it was. Dip the Nib into water, blot it with tissue, dip into the frisket, and apply to paper. Swish the nib in water (just as you would do with a brush) and pat dry. That's all. It has a pointed tip and a broad, angled tip so it's pretty versatile as well.

That's it for this week. Got to get back to gluing gift bags for Sunday's Bazaar!

Friday's Finds: It's all about marketing

Here are this week's "finds."

1. 66 colors for $4.49? Really?? Yes, really. The catch is that you get only a dot of each, but it is worth it. Daniel Smith sells these Try-It Color Sheets through its Web site  -- http://www.danielsmith.com/ -- and catalog. The sheet groups colors into three categories: (1) Primatek Colors (manufactured by Daniel Smith's proprietary slow-grinding process of pure minerals), (2) Quinacridone, Cadmium & More and (3) Luminescent Colors. It's cheaper than a movie, and you'll get more than two hours of entertainment out of one Try-It Sheet. (Someone at Daniel Smith is a brilliant marketer, don't you think?)

2. Speaking of marketing: Last spring, Maribeth McKaig and I were making our way through galleries in the Phoenix area and came across a series of postcards from the Cave Creek Gallery Association. We loved the sentiments: Remember when you tried your first crayon? Have you ever had an abstract thought? If you have never bought a piece of art, you may be a minimalist? Do you ever pattern the water rings your glass makes? And my favorite: Do you ever add salsa to your food "for color"? If you have some slogans along the same vein, click on Comments below and share them with us.
3. And now for your marketing opportunity: Ivy Tech is inviting artists to apply for gallery space at the Waldron Arts Center in downtown Bloomington. Instead of paying a commission on sales, artists will now pay gallery rental with monthly rates ranging from $55 for the Vault Gallery to $165 for the Rosemary P. Miller Gallery. Gallery management will facilitate communication between artists and buyers, but artists will handle their own sales and keep 100 percent. Go to www.ivytech.edu/bloomington/waldron and click on Artist FAQs for information about insurance, sales, rentals, etc.  The site also has a link to http://www.ivytech.slideroom.com/ for electronic submissions.  (Don't be intimidated by this. The site's video tutorial explains it all, and it looks as easy as attaching photos to e-mails.) The deadline is Dec. 1.

Watercolor artist featured at The Venue

Donna Whitsitt uses pure, not mixed, colors and black ink on watercolor board or paper to depict nature.

In a painting demonstration at The Venue last night, she talked about how her subject matters and palette are changing since moving from Colorado to Brown County last year.

"I need more greens now," she said, to capture rural Indiana scenes. Several paintings at The Venue are of Mesa Verde and the Rockies, done during the 15 years Donna lived in Colorado. The colors in those tend more to the warm reds and yellows of the color wheel.

She usually works small and develops several paintings simultaneously. Last night she had four started within the first hour of her demo, taking each one to a certain stage before moving to the next. "I don't always follow the rules of watercolor," she said. "Sometimes I paint the sky last. I guess it's good to know the rules before you break them."

When she finishes painting, she outlines shapes for emphasis. "The inking in usually takes longer than the painting," she said.

Donna will be back at The Venue Friday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. to talk to gallery visitors. I think you'll enjoy her and her work.

Donna's Web site: http://www.donnawhitsitt.com/

Friday's Finds: A short list of good stuff

No. 1: Skewers in the off-season
Now that winter is here, move those wooden skewers from your grilling area to your art gadget bag. In the last few weeks, I have found these indispensable in painting leaves and poinsettias. Lay in a colored wash and then use the skewer's sharp point to indent, not tear, the paper. The pigment sinks into the indentation, creating a believable leaf vein. I used to use orange sticks, but a few weeks ago the only ones I could find in all of Bloomington were BIG orange sticks and the points just weren't small enough for the leaves I was painting.

No. 2: Photo editing "on the cheap"
Really cheap -- as in FREE. If you don't have Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or good photo editing software from your camera, this may be just what you're looking for. Go to www.irfanview.com, click on "download," and follow the instructions. Although it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the big name products, it does provide the necessities such as crop, rotate, resize/resample, special effects plus more. When I started the blog in September, I discovered I needed better photo editing on my laptop so I downloaded Irfanview. It has worked wonderfully.

No. 3: Watercolors on the Square
Check out the watercolors at Gallery North and By Hand Gallery, both on the Bloomington Square. The Bloomington Watercolor Society has several members exhibiting their work on Gallery North's "Gold Wall": Vi Working, Kathy Karnes, Kriste Lindberg, Tina Allgood, Tricia Wente, Jacki Frey, Jeanne Dutton, and Nancy Metz. In addition, several of Gallery North's members (Jeanne Iler, Cathy Korinek, Linda Meyer-Wright, Carolyn Rogers Richard and Gillian Harris) are showing their watercolor works. On the south side of the Square, visit By Hand Gallery and look at works by Tricia Wente, Sara Steffey McQueen and Bonnie Gordon-Lucas. By Hand still has a couple of floral paintings by Alice San Pietro, whom I admired greatly.

Friday's Finds

Today's post, the first of a weekly feature, lists stuff that has caught my attention in the last few days. It may be a Web site, book, practical tip, local art news, quote, image or anything else that has recently amused me. So here goes:

No. 1 State parks during the week
Anyone who has been a little anxious about painting outside should check this out. Grab a friend or two and head out to a nearby state park any week day. You will probably have it to yourselves. No worries about curious people looking over your shoulder or concerns about blocking a path with your painting chair. The Beginning Watercolor class met last Monday in a Spring Mill shelterhouse and painted uninterrupted for nearly three hours. McCormick's Creek and Brown County state parks also offer tons of inspiration and short drive times.

No. 2 Art Institute of Chicago's "My Collections" feature on its Web site
I stumbled across this one while looking for examples of John Marin's paintings for my  Nov. 1 class (The topic is brushwork and, in my opinion, Marin is the master of modern watercolor brushwork.) On the Art Institute's Web site, you can create your own cyber collection of art. Go to http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/personalcollections/about and you'll find instructions for browsing the Art Institute of Chicago's extensive holdings and selecting pieces for your own collections. You can even add your own commentary. I entertained myself for several hours on this one -- and actually learned a thing or two without even trying.

No. 3 Free shipping at http://www.danielsmith.com
You don't even have to have a big order. Just enter the promo code WETREATU in the promotional code box in the bottom left of the Order Recap screen. But hurry. The offer expires  Nov. 1 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. BTW: Several watercolor brands are currently discounted in the Winter Sale.

Come back next week for Friday's Finds.

Let's keep this going

"Beginning Watercolor: Give It a Try" continues with four more sessions in November.

Nov. 1: Brushwork. Practice mark making with rounds, flats and other painting utensils.
Nov. 8: Composition. Learn some basics that will improve your pictures.
Nov. 15: Color schemes. Develop color plans to make your paintings expressive.
Nov. 22: Underpainting. Provide a unifying framework for your images.

The class will meet Monday 9:30 a.m. to Noon and costs $75. To register, call Nancy at 812-327-2535.

Spring Mill Paintout

Students in the October session spent their final class at Spring Mill working on leaf paintings. We pretty much had the park to ourselves, and for two and a half hours we worked on painting positive and negative  shapes. We "veined" leaves by impressing

the paper surface with orange sticks and by lifting paint. We mixed colors on the paper and glazed layers of color. We worked wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry. We added burnt sienna to our three primaries (permanent rose, cobalt blue and winsor yellow). It isn't the best fall palette, but we continue to surprise ourselves with the range of colors produced from only four colors.

Last week's barn paintings

Peggy and Lee brought their barn paintings they had started in last week's class. Lee's painting is ready for matting and framing; Peggy plans to put in darker shadows to better define the barn's side. Next week I hope to add Wilma's and Joyce's paintings.


by Peggy Myers



by Lee Collins



Time flies -- when you're having fun!



Lee prepares to transfer his drawing to the watercolor paper.





Joyce and Peggy sketch the barn for their paintings.





















  



I can't believe next Monday is the last session of "Beginning Watercolor: Give It a Try."



Joyce, Lee, Peggy and Wilma have accomplished so much in a short time. And in preparing for the classes, I have learned a lot along the way. (The flat wash prepared as an example for class No. 2 was my best ever!)

Take a look at the work produced in this first two sessions of "Beginning Watercolor."



by Jo Davis



by Joyce Stumpf






by Lee Collins

  Getting the feel of the paint, paper and water

by Peggy Myers

We spent most of the first class discovering the different ways to apply paint to paper, how much water is needed for different effects, the differences between mixing colors on the palette and on the paper. In class, students divided a watercolor sheet into geometric shapes and painted in the sections using various techniques and colors -- all mixed from the triad of permanent rose, cobalt blue and winsor yellow. Their homework was to draw a single object such as a cup, pitcher, vase, etc., and then draw a big loopy line through the painting to create numerous sections. Then, each artist experimented with different ways to apply the paint to the paper.





by Joyce Stumpf



by Peggy Myers



Limiting yourself to one color

by Lee Collins

The second class opened with practicing flat washes, graded washes and dry brush before moving into a demonstration of how values create the illusion of three dimensions. Students did 5-value charts of either permanent rose or cobalt blue.Each artist then examined the black-and-white photocopies of the single object they had selected, matching the light and dark areas to the five values on the chart they had just painted. Their homework was to finish the painting, using only the one-color. Everyone credited the value chart as the key to success. We all agree with whoever said, "Value does all the work; color gets all the credit."



by Jo Davis



 

Painting a picture



Yesterday we ventured into color by first painting a color wheel of the three primaries we've been working with and then starting a barn painting. The color wheel included primary, mixed secondary and mixed neutral colors, so everyone had an idea of how to achieve the various colors in the barn picture. We drew a rough outline of the picture on sketch paper and then used graphite paper to transfer it to watercolor paper. We got the sky and barn started, and I demonstrated how to approach the other parts of the picture.



Come back next week to see the gallery of barns Joyce, Lee, Peggy and Wilma create.

Bloomington's Gallery Walk!

 Friday, Oct. 1


Tropical Hilltop

5 - 8 p.m.

Check out the art in nine galleries all within walking distance of each other.

"Tropical Hilltop," a watercolor I did at Hilltop Garden's 2008 Tribute to the Tropics, is on display at Gallery North. Also hanging there is "Rising Sunflower," a watercolor on masa paper that gives a batik-like effect.

Full circle: Teaching

 

My first real job was substitute teaching, and last week I returned to that job title when my good friend Jeanne Dutton asked me to sub for her at Ivy Tech's Beginning Watercolor classes at the Waldron.

I'm glad to report that Jeanne is healthy again and back in her classroom and that subbing as an art teacher for adults is worlds apart from that first subbing job in a junior high! The whole experience of teaching for Jeanne confirmed my decision to offer beginning watercolor classes at my studio.

Next month, I will be offering beginning watercolor instruction Monday mornings from 9:30 to Noon. The goal is "Fearless Painting." It's only paper, water and paint, after all. Students will produce a painting in each class session.

Oct. 4: Getting comfortable with your materials and supplies

Students will learn what materials and supplies they need. Using materials provided, they will produce a geometric painting that familiarizes them with the feel of the paint, brushes and paper.

Oct. 11: Painting in one color

Everyone will practice flat and graded washes, paint a value scale in a chosen color, and then use that knowledge to produce a painting of a single object.

Oct. 18: Putting it together

The class will introduce masking as a way to save the white of the paper, wet-in-wet painting as a background, and finally wet-on-dry painting to complete a floral painting.

Oct. 25: Painting the season

The final class will honor the season's falling leaves as students practice mixing colors on paper instead of the palette and experiment with positive/negative technique in a leaf painting.

If you or someone you know has ever looked at a watercolor painting and wondered how it was created, this is your chance to find out. Call me at 812-327-2535 and I'll reserve a space. (And if the class schedule just doesn't fit your calendar, call me anyway and we can arrange private lessons.)

Friday: In three acts

Act One: Packing insecurities

Just how hard can it be to pack a painting to be hand-delivered to an art show?

More so than I thought!

I had planned to deliver the "Sunflower Trio" to Indianapolis before the end of August, but that plan went down the tubes when none of my Cheap Joe's boxes were as big as I had thought. Lesson learned: Always, always measure! So I spent half a day shopping the office supplies stores and UPS store for the appropriate box size before deciding online shopping would be quicker in the long run. Within 5 days, two 30x36x6 inch cardboard cartons were dropped at my doorstep.

Referring to the WSI's shipping instructions, I noticed for the first time that the letter referred to "crate," not box. Oh dear, surely I do not need to build a wooden crate, I thought. My mind couldn't even go there, so I brushed that word aside (and am still hoping "crate" applies to containers being actually shipped instead of hand delivered).

The next challenge:  Keeping at bay my worries about "What will they think?" They wouldn't reject the painting at the last minute because it arrived in a carboard box instead of a crate, would they? And what will they think when they see the interior packing? (The bubble wrap needed to be supplemented with styrofoam that had formerly protected a computer monitor. And when even more cushioning was needed, I took Meredith's old cardboard bricks -- you know the preschool variety that come in red, yellow, blue and green -- and tucked them in the bottom and both ends.) When the Watercolor Society of Indiana folks open the box, they will either be horrified by my unprofessionalism (if that's a word) or give me extra credit for creative reuse of unorthodox packing materials. How's that for a prize category?

Shelley Cannon Frederick's work at A2Z

Act Two: Quick right turn

Having delivered the painting to the WSI office, I headed east on 96th Street toward Allisonville Road where I planned to shop at Prizm Art Supplies. I was amused by how much the area had changed since I lived in Indy a lifetime ago; nothing was familiar. And then I saw the A2Z sign! I know that place. It's where Shelley Cannon Frederick is showing her paintings. So I made a quick right and snaked my way back through a parking lot to A2Z. The paintings are beautiful, and the restaurant serves breakfast all day -- my kind of place.

All the pretty colors

Act Three:  Feeding my addiction

My last Indy stop was Prizm, where I could blissfully shop for art supplies without having to worry about meeting someone at a particular time or keeping someone else entertained while I browsed. It was heaven. I started just to the right of the door with the books and worked my way aisle by aisle through the store. I listened to other shoppers and the store clerks talk about this weekend's Penrod and T.C. Steele Paintout as I considered several paints and brushes. I ended up buying liquid frisket and nib, aquabord, plastic paint cups with lids and  Drawing from the Mind Painting from the Heart by Annette Carroll Compton. I don't think I've ever left an art store empty-handed. It was 30 miles down SR37 before I realized I had forgotten the one item I had gone in for specifically: acetate envelopes. Oh well, it was a great day anyway.

To paraphrase Sally Field, "They like me!"

Sunflower Trio

I know the actress was much derided for expressing this sentiment in her 1984 Oscar acceptance speech, but I honestly heard it echo as I read that the Watercolor Society of Indiana had accepted my "Sunflower Trio" into its Juried Exhibit. The show runs at the Indianapolis Museum of Art Oct. 17 to Dec. 5.

The opening reception is at the IMA's DeBoest Auditorium Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. I'll be there because I am so excited to have my work in a museum. The facts that "Sunflower Trio" will be at the IMA for a short while and that it's part of a group show doesn't dampen my enthusiasm. The museum thing has been a goal/dream/aspiration for years.

Down a notch

Don't worry that success has gone to my head. The following day I received a rejection from another juried competition I had entered. It was easier to stomach, given the preceding day's news. 

Tombi

Santa Fe Chapel

Nos. 2 and 3

Last Friday, I received an e-mail from Tom Poole of Bowling Green, Ky., that two of my paintings had been juried into the Kentucky Watercolor Society's Aquaventure 2010 show. Suddenly 2010 is looking pretty good.

"Tombi" and "Santa Fe Chapel" will be hanging at the Kentucky Museum on the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green from Sept. 18 to Oct. 17. The opening reception is Sept. 18 (but I won't be there -- atoning trumps art that day).

Juggling logistics

So this week I had to figure out how to most efficiently deliver these paintings. I first had to reframe "Tombi" because its frame was splitting. This sounds simple enough, but because I needed to get the KWS paintings to Louisville by Thursday morning I had to throw myself on the Framemakers clerk's mercy. After hearing how I'd have to drive all the way to Bowling Green (about 8 hours roundtrip) if I couldn't deliver the paintings by Thursday, he agreed to put a RUSH on the job. He delivered on the promise, too. Thank you, Framemakers!

Then I arranged to drive to Louisville Wednesday night, stay with my in-laws, and hand-off the paintings sometime that night or Thursday morning to Jean Jansen. I took the Garmin GPS so I would be able to find Jean's in the dark, but that wasn't necessary. Jean pulled up in front of my in-laws' home at 10:40 p.m., and we packed them into the back of her car -- the paintings, not the in-laws. One mission accomplished, with a giant assist from Jean!

Now, next week I will drive to northside of Indy to deliver the Sunflower Trio.

Right now, it seems my creative time is being consumed by driving time. But I am NOT complaining.