As this year comes to a close I have put together a review of my creative journey for 2016. From the over 60 works that I catalogued this year I selected 12 that seem to best represent the scope of my artwork over this past year. I have made some changes in my approach to making art and am overflowing with ideas and plans for continuing on this journey of creativity.
Landscape Study VIII
watercolor
6 x 6 inches
sold
I began 2016 with a continuation of my landscape theme in watercolor in this series of small studies. They were very satisifying to paint and the small format meant that I could move from one idea to the next fairly quickly.
Pink Joy
watercolor
8 x 10 inches
available from the artist
I also painted a series of flowers in watercolor. I loved painting these delightful tulips!
Oceanides
watercolor
11 x 14 inches
available from the artist
I also continued exploring my love of painting the ocean surf and slightly increased my format with a few of them.
Behind Pompano
watercolor
6 x 8 inches
This small painting was significant to me in that it was a scene I had attempted to paint many times and scrapped over and over again, until I got it right with this one.
Water Sky V
watercolor
11 x 14 inches
available from the artist
I completed a small series exploring the ocean and sky.
Earth Sky III
watercolor
11 x 14 inches
available at Hands Gallery
And then went on to do a related series about earth and sky.
Simple Hours
watercolor
10 x 14 inches
available at Hands Gallery
With my love of landscape I spent some time pushing the interpretation of an image in watercolor, the beginning of a desire for greater abstraction.
The View From Here
watercolor
11 x 14 inches
In a series based on the Raven Rocks overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway I relied more heavily on developing compositions in my sketchbook, and began working with color in a more interpretative way rather than relying on local color for my color palette.
All The Quiet Places
mixed water media
10.5 x 14 inches
And when Hurricane Matthew struck my beloved Edisto Island last October, I created a series of Edisto paintings, using some of the mixed media I had been experimenting with and my own interpretative color palette.
untitled (Mountain mixed I)
mixed water media
8 x 11
available from the artist
With a desire to futher explore abstraction I experimented with mixed water media on paper. Encouraged by the results I wanted to see where I could take this with acrylic paint.
Every Road Home
acrylic, graphite and Inkense on paper
8 x 11 inches
available from the artist
So with a handful of acrylic tubes I did more exploration on paper. My intent was to paint non-objectively, but mountain landscapes still showed up.
Passing Days
acrylic and graphite on paper
8 x 11 inches
available from the artist
Since doing these abstracted landscapes on paper I am in the process of continuing this series on larger cradled panels as well as having a few canvases on standby. There are other themes I plan to explore in acrylic and with this intuitive painting approach. I am eager to continue with these works in the new year to see where all of this takes me. I do plan on working with watercolor again too, and I would like to increase the scale of my watercolor paintings. Of course my sketchbook will continue to be an important part of my creative process.
As for the other parts of my creative life, I plan to continue to add designs to my Spoonflower collection. That is a process and product I find deeply satisifying. And crochet. I was busy with holiday gifts and am now making something for me, but once that is complete there will be more crocheting happening too. All of these are important parts to my creative life. And who knows? There just may be new creative adventures to take in 2017! What are your creative plans for the new year? Trying a new media or method? Wherever your creativity takes you I wish you all a very happy and art-filled new year!
