I love living near the Atlantic Ocean! My studio is in Summerville, South Carolina which is what locals refer to as, "the low country" (the part of the state that is geographically located twenty-five miles (25) from the Atlantic Ocean. There are a lifetime of paintings here, no matter your preferred subject! Whether you choose architecture, ocean surf, animals, (including bugs!) people, or plants, painting reference is abundant! They all seem to lend themselves to whichever media an artist might choose.
I choose watercolor for one reason. It dries quickly. The way the pigments change color and sometimes textures also change when layered on the proper (watercolor) papers.
Watercolors intrigued me for about twenty-five years as I pushed it and pulled it until the challenge of the medium began to fade.
I once challenged myself to paint a watercolor to represent each day of summer. That year (I believe it was 1995?) there were 95 DAYS OF SUMMER. In my gallery are some of the pieces and my message about the exhibit is below.
Ninety-Five Days of Summer
Some time ago, (long about January), while settled on the sofa with feet curled under, I was looking through my considerable reference materials on a mission to make a drawing.
After I sifted through file after file of kids on the beach, sailboats, sun worshipers, moss laden trees, summer flowers, vegetables and fruits, as well as thunder clouds, and swimming pools, not to mention sunsets, ice cream cones, summer hats and funny fishermen...the realization that it would take years to incorporate them all into paintings was quite overwhelming! Not to worry, perseverance prevailed, and I sat down on that cold winter night and began drawing Ninety-Five Days Of Summer.
Six months later, I had reached my goal! Some of the drawings became larger oil paintings, and some are sweet little watercolors ... some the bright, hot colors of summer, and some the cool colors of summer nights. Some feature figures reacting to summer heat , others depict summer squalls, and yet others are about good summer things to eat.
I still have considerable reference not painted, and yes, a lot of it says "summer"!
