The Chinese new year will last until February 14, 2010. Here are more paintings of the ox, or is it a water buffalo? I painted from memory/imagination; I do not like to paint from a photograph because the camera lies and also, the painting will lack chi, spirit. One of these three sumi paintings will be chosen for the Puget Sound Sumi Artists' roster of 2009.

Happy New Year to you!

Today starts the Chinese new year of the OX.

Here is my ox painting again to mark the day. The ox stands for patience, tenacity and loyalty. Ox people make good friends. If you were born in 1961 or twelve years before or after, then you are an ox according to the Chinese astrological chart. I am a tiger - brave and unpredictable.

Non-traditional sumi paintings

Traditional sumi painting includes a white background of the bare paper. The blank spaces are important to the composition. Here I have added color to the background from both the top and underside of the paintings. This adds a depth more common in oil paintings. The show in April will be a mix of both techniques because I appreciate the rich dark colors as much as the ink.

Out the window

My next sumi painting show will be in April, at The Art Stall Gallery in the Pike Place Market, Seattle. It will feature a variety of new work including birds, landscapes and flowers. Here are a couple of chickadee paintings that might be in the show. I will have 7-10 paintings in the show and so will Genevieve Ashford, the other sumi painter in the gallery.

Tide pool with crabs

This painting was done at two separate times. The tide pool (bubbles) was painted first and allowed to thoroughly dry. The crabs are painted over that. It was tempting to add some rocks, but I skipped that so it would not be cluttered, conflicting the crab motif.

Dragonflies

This is an experiment in layering rice papers, that is, three are glued together. The middle layer is painted on separately. The main painting is on the top sheet. The third layer is Masa paper, a machine made paper of great strength. The other two are delicate Chinese papers which tear readily when wet. It is always a challenge to cleanly attach various papers without wrinkles ocurring. In some cases the wrinkles are desirable and become part of the art, as in paintings depicting water or great action - the wrinkles add a demension of interest. In this painting I am making a decided effort to depart from realism and branch out into more abstract, free-form art.

At the birdfeeder

All the birds are out today. One cat sits directly under the birdbath - they have learned to ignore her. The other cat watches from the cattree in the kitchen window. The sharp-shinned hawk watches from the neighbors rooftop. By afternoon the three squirrels will have moved in to cleanup.

Sumi and color

This painting (East Meets West) is sold.

These birds were clearer before the painting was backed (glued onto another piece of rice paper for support). The colors bled, especially the reds, an indication that there is too heavy a load of pigment for the thinness of this particulary rice paper. It takes a lot of practice to get it just right; I like to try different kinds of rice papers, but errors do occur during the process of experimenting. In any case, you would not see these birds together in the wild. The cardinal is not found on the west coast where the Steller's jay lives.

Sumi feathers on watercolor paper

Painting on rice paper is difficult to learn, so sometimes it is best to start with asian brushes on regular watercolor paper until the student learns how the brushes and ink behave ~ then move on to learning about rice papers. The feather is a nice subject, incorporating the ideas of both line and shape. Other popular subjects in my classes are shells, animals, bamboo and trees.

Teaching again in 2009

The students want to paint animals, and so I am painting horses for a start. In my past classes - panda bears, skunks and zebras have been popular subjects; I include the horse which is a traditional sumi subject representing both grace and strength.

Chinese Year of the Ox

Happy Snowy New Year!

Racoon tracks in the back yard.