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.