“Sunset Flying South”
1/2 sheet Watercolour Pour
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
It is for sunsets like this one (below) that I love this place. I walk in the late afternoon and enjoy the lovely light that pervades the foreshore at this particular time of the day. It’s August [and late winter] in the Southern Hemisphere… but already the air is balmy and warm… and fragrant with frangipani.
I find it interesting that despite the economic downturn our small city is still teaming with tourists from all around the world. Young Europeans especially… who tend to gather in groups to discuss their adventures.
I had to smile the other evening. While collecting the makings for spaghetti bolognese in the pasta aisle of the local supermarket three young Italian women were vigorously debating brands. I stood back and waited hoping to learn what Italians themselves would choose… but alas… despite the wide choice… they still chose the no frills generic brand… leaving me still none the wiser! Nevertheless it was fun to hear the lively discussion taking place in ‘fluid’ Italian… especially when peppered with slang which is pretty much universal in every language!
Earlier I had enjoyed another exchange between an older couple as we passed each other on the Esplanade. The man was instructing his wife [as much as himself] that they must try to remember the street they had just come down to get back to their hotel. ”We have to remember where we came from… so we can know how to get back home” he said with great emphasis. That made me smile. As a metaphor for life… I couldn’t have agreed more! Grin.
“Mystical Migaloo”
The White Whale
1/2 sheet Watercolour Pour
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
Saturday’s workshop went well as we moved into painting “from the imagination” using broad generous pouring techniques… choosing pigments with specific chemical characteristics and allowing the paint to dictate the subject and establish the mood. I think this will be the way I will be moving toward teaching in future workshops.
There is so much to be learned about the properties of paint and paper in the pouring of watercolour paint. Besides… it’s a lot of fun. And for the beginner in watercolour… fun is not generally something that people have come to expect. Watercolour is a demanding medium. And it has a reputation for taking very few prisoners.
But taking a broad approach… away from traditional techniques of graded and variegated washes and intensive brushwork… (at least in the initial stages) allows newbies to experience the possibilities of the medium and to see it at it’s glorious best. It will be ’soon enough’ later to discover the drawbacks… so for now at least… it will be a lovely random and purely creative process.
In art… as in life… it doesn’t get better than that.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Wonderful paintings, Jean. Speaking of watercolor, I quite love the work of your countryman John Lovett! I’m intrigued to know more about that slang that’s “universal in every language.” [grin] And I would have enjoyed listening in on the pasta discussion. Probably concerned the tendency of lower quality pasta to go straight from tough to mushy without ever passing through al dente.
Thanks John. Yes… I agree with you about John Lovett’s work. He works hard to get it out there as well. I recently saw some of his paintings on book covers. They looked terrific and intrigued me enough about the book to want to buy it. So it worked for me.
You don’t know about universal slang? *wink* It’s like universal sign language… only different. Like a subconscious “knowing” without actually knowing. Universal slang is a little bit different and has its roots in the now gone globally viral African American influence… where words which were once upon a time English (now deemed to be cool or buzz) are interchanged and interspersed into other languages.
You realise of course that I am waffling… but I enjoyed the opportunity here to try to explain (aka defend) myself by dissecting the meaning of a totally fictitious word form which can only really be discerned by transcendental observation ie. the sensing (as opposed to truly comprehending) what’s being said (grin) I practise by watching the news on SBS… that serious stuff-shirt look is the same wherever you go and besides… sometimes the news makes so much more sense in Russian (((chuckles)))
Oh, now get it. [grin]
hahaha… thought you might!
Now… regarding that tough to mushy without ever passing through al dente… crikey crumbs can I ever relate… (((chuckles)))