I painted 20 small watercolors of the same scene. They were sketches to practice various techniques, not meant to be shown to anyone. They cluttered up one box of sketches. Rather than throw them out, I brushed white gesso over them, let that dry, then cut them up into either 1-inch strips or 1-inch squares.
I spread the strips out on a large piece of 140 pound cold press watercolor paper which I had washed with cerulean blue. By cutting the pieces so small, I couldn't see, therefore I couldn't remember, the spots in the originals that just didn't work well. I tinkered with the placement of the strips until I came up with a version I liked. Laid out this way, the pieces became almost musical. They have a rhythm and joy that can't be found in the originals.
I know so many people who have their stacks of work hidden under beds or in closets or in boxes (I have all three). Just hanging around. After a while, they become one more thing to deal with so they either get tossed out, stay hidden in the same places in hopes they will magically disappear, or better yet, they become a new source for a project.
One good thing about practicing a lot, I end up with a lot of lemons that make good lemonade.
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| Wind Blown by Martha Slavin |
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| Jazz by Martha Slavin |
Sometimes it isn't the watercolor that I painted but another problem that caused me to experiment (or make lemonade).
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| Melted Colors by Martha Slavin |
I bought a set of Nicholson's Peerless Transparent Watercolors, which comes in tablet form with the watercolors impregnated into each paper.
Add a little water with your brush to the colored papers and they can be used just like any watercolor. I thought they would be great for traveling. What I didn't do: I didn't separate my water bottle in the same tote bag as the paint packet. I didn't close the top of the water bottle completely so I ended up with a messy, colorful tote bag with the pages of watercolors pretty much spent. The papers were still beautiful, so I cut some of them up to make a collage. Lemonade, for sure. I called the piece Melted Colors for a good reason.
These are beautiful, Martha! Nothing created is ever wasted, but you found some obvious redemption for these old efforts. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletethank you, Teresa, for your comments about this post. I agree that nothing created is ever wasted, but there is always the issue of storage. I know so many artists who wonder what to do with all their sketches, paintings that didn't quite work,... Maybe an online store! Hum.
ReplyDeleteFrom Mary by email: I loved how you made lemonade out of lemons, thanks for sharing your blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary, for being such a constant reader of my blog posts. Your comments are always heart-lifting.
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