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.