Gathering Season

Gathering Season

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

I see autumn in our mountains as a season of gathering. Birds are gathering in flocks preparing for migrations to warmer climates. The last harvest is gathered while the leaves turn to shades of red and yellow. And we begin to gather in for family celebrations and to make preparations for the coming winter. I adapted and revived some old bird motifs along with some newly created flower shapes to play with color and pattern in this painting. It is inspired by a view from one of my favorite spots along the Blue Ridge Parkway, not far from my house, called Thunder Hill. 

At their core, the things we really like do not change over time. Putting your house in order is a great way to discover what they are.

~ Marie Kondo ~  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Apples To Apples

Apples To Apples

watercolor

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

A study of apples to celebrate apple season here in our Southern Mountains. The days are turning cool and crisp and the local trees are heavy with fruit. It's time to make some dried apple chips. They are so good for snacking and when making apple slices seasoned with cinnamon the house smells wonderful.

Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night; and thus he would never know the rhythms that are at the heart of life.

~Hal Borland~

sketchbook :: summer wrap up

Now that autumn is here it is time for me to begin a new sketchbook. I realized, however, that I have neglected to post any sketches since the very beginning of summer! So just in case you thought I was no longer sketching, here is a sampling from my summer sketchbook.

I had such hopes for these potted flowers and tomato plants growing on my deck. But with our short, cool summers tomatoes are always a challenge to grow. I did get a handful of grape tomatoes. And the marigolds continued to bloom but the geraniums didn't last well at all.

Although cut flowers from our yard and flowers from the market did often grace our table.

Summer foods, too.

My sketchbooks still hold many sketches as an artists' journal but they are also part planning and record keeping. Lots of pages are now used for preliminary sketches for painting, notes and ideas, and a place to record quotes from my reading.

And my reading tends to be a bit eclectic.

I found this lady in my neglected herb garden.  All of these sketches were done in a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Art Journal. It has 90 lb paper and is 7.75 x 9.75 inches with a soft cover. I really like these books for their versatility. Plus they don't seem so precious that I worry about using pages for less than stellar images. I have found these books to serve well as a working sketchbook and an art journal.

Equinox

Equinox

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

That time of year when day and night are equal length signals a turning of the season. This painting was inspired by the changing light that accompanies the cycle of the seasons. As the days grow shorter light becomes more of a celebration, something to notice and treasure. And I couldn't help but notice the sunlight shining through the flowers and the glass milk jug on my table. I enjoyed creating shapes inspired by the shapes of the flowers. Circles and dots repeat like the cycle of seasons while the flowers dissolve into a pattern as a pattern of years.

Just Pears

Just Pears

watercolor

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

Sometimes it's the simplicity of a thing that gives the most joy. And these simple pears had such wonderful color that I couldn't resist painting them.

Daisy Daisy

Daisy Daisy

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

. . . give me your answer true...a song I remember my grandmother singing and one that I would sing to my daughter when she was very little. These daisies grew in our yard and along with the peaches sitting on our kitchen table in one of our hand made ceramic bowls made for a fun still life to paint. I created stencil shapes inspired by the shapes of the petals, leaves and the pattern on the bowl. The movement and repetition of their shapes throughout the painting reminded me of that old song while I painted.

Low Country Marsh

Low Country Marsh

watercolor

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

When working on a larger piece I often work on a smaller painting at the same time. This is one of those smaller works, completed while a larger painting was drying between stages of development and when I needed to contemplate my next move. I like the immediacy of this one, with a very direct response to the mood of the landscape. I find a serenity in the coastal marshlands which I attempted to capture with this painting.

looking back to move forward

Sunflower Play

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

This painting celebrates the cheerfulness of sunflowers accompanied by daisies and phlox in a brightly colored pitcher that graced my summertime table. I was inspired to enhance the liveliness of the blooms with a repeat blossom and leaf pattern dancing throughout the composition. I especially liked the light streaming in from behind the flowers as well as the unusual angle of the photo, with the pitcher and table in a slightly skewed perspective. That was my starting point for playing with this composition. I had previously sketched this same flower arrangement here. If you are interested in my process for this painting, keep reading. . .

*I will warn you now that this post is much longer than my usual postings and contains a lot of photos!*

Now for the history of the development of this painting. You may recall my big studio re-organization earlier this summer. This was when I unearthed my old box of stencil shapes. I have been waiting for the right opportunity and inspiration to put them to use again. The stencils are all hand made by me. The oldest stencils I made from scrapes of card stock and cardboard and are nearly 30 years old. At one point I began making stencils from frosted drafting film. You can see the layers of acrylic and oil paint that built up on those very oldest stencils.

Here is a detail of an oil painting from the mid-90s where I used a bird stencil. That bird shape was one of my favorites and showed up in several paintings. Sorry for the poor photo, the painting now lives in our bedroom.

Now back to my current painting. I discovered that cosmetic sponges are the perfect tool for applying watercolor with a stencil. And in some places, I used a squirt from a water mister to soften the shape after paint was applied.

With watercolor paint the stenciled shapes maintain some transparency, which I found delightful compared to when I used acrylic or oil.

And glazing over a stenciled area adds depth to the color. 

Here is the finished painting again, where I am mining the past to move my art forward. And thank you for scrolling this far! My most recent purchase was for more drafting film, a new x-acto knife and erasers to make stamps. Did I not mention stamps? Yep, I used to make those too.