"Forest Light", Molly Hilton, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC

"Forest Light" is a lovely acrylic painting by Molly Hilton. The painting was completed on location in Green Valley Park outside of Boone, North Carolina. Molly used wonderful texture and color to capture the planes in the rocks and to achieve perspective in the painting as we look through the forest to the light that is cast through the trees. Delicate forest flowers are expressed in hints of white in the underbrush. I love the color and reach of the tree to the right in this painting.
"Forest Light" Molly Hilton, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC
Acrylic 12x14
Available for Sale

"Mountains at Green Valley Park", Charlie Chatham,Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC

 This painting is loaded with expressive color. Charlie is a lovely soft painter and for this session he experimented with color. This is a wonderful expressive painting that demonstrates skill and presents a bold dramatic color story. The work is a story about the dramatic interaction between color and light. The clouds in the sky are moving and this is achieved through active brush work. We see the shadows on the mountains which give us a perception of depth and dimension. The yellow ochre in the road drifts off and blends into the brilliant summer greens of the mountains. This is a dramatic and successful exploration into the world of color. 

"Mountains at Green Valley Park", Charlie Chatham, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC

Oil 18x24

Available for Sale

                

"Hay Fields", Pegge Laine, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC

"Hay Fields" is a very free, energetic plein air painting that is full of the joy of life. There is a great sense of happiness in the activity and relationship of the colors in Pegge's work. I love the heavily textured trees that rise above the fields reaching into the rhythmic brush strokes of the clouds. The colors are brilliant and perspective is achieved in the deeper blues and purples of the mountains that recede into the cerulean blue of the sky. 

 "Hay Fields", Pegge Laine, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC
Acrylic 18x24
Available for Sale

"Hay Barn", Charles Maling, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC

"Hay Fields" by Charles Maling is a wonderful, soft watercolor that tells the story of the light in the Appalachian Mountains surrounding Boone, North Carolina. I love the way Charles applied yellows in this painting. The yellows bring forward the light that is reflected in the band alongside the road and the flowers give us perspective on barn in the distance. I also appreciate the deep shadows in the hills and the rough nature of the roof of the barn which is achieved through a series of dry brush techniques.



"Hay Barn", Charles Maling, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone,NC 
Watercolor 18x24
Available for Sale

"300 Years in Boone" Molly Hilton, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC

"300 Years in Boone" is a total delight. This is a lovely, bright painting of one of the oldest trees in Boone painted from the grounds of  the historic Jones house downtown Boone. I love the brilliant mix of colors and attention to detail in this delightful, bright painting. The tree is full of life as it spreads its huge branches across the painting. The details in the stone wall and bright colors of the buildings bring light through the huge branches of this wonderful old tree. 


"300 Years in Boone", Molly Hilton, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC
Acylic 12x14
Available for Sale


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"Iris in Full Bloom", Mary Lou Heine, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin, KS

Mary Lou Heine is a skilled watercolor artist. She uses bold color against a very white background which accents the drama in this wonderfully organic watercolor. Wet into wet is used to create delicate transparency within the powerful mix of color underneath each petal. The whole image seems to be growing right before our eyes. The interior stamens are moving and seem to be intertwined in their efforts to expand into the outer petals.  This is a powerful painting.  It is a representational piece yet itss very abstract nature draws the viewer into the interior of the image.
"Iris Full Bloom ", Mary Lou Heine, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS
Watercolor 18x24

"Iris Petal" Krista Pojman, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

I  love this abstract use of watercolor in this painting of an Iris petal. Krista is a wonderful expressive artist.  I am so excited by the abstracts that have recently come forward in the workshops.  is a high school student and her painting, although simplistic being only one petal, the image is dramatic and full.  Krista's use of wet into wet is just wonderful and the uneven edges of the petal express great movement. Krista was also able to maintain the lovely transparent effects of watercolor in this highly expressive painting.
 "Iris Petal", Krista Pojman, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin, KS
Watercolor 18x24

Eilene Fink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

Eilene Flink working on the break out sessions at the Lumberyard Art Center in Baldwin City, KS

" Fall Still Life" Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

In this painting we see traditional forms expressed using combinations of sophisticated watercolor techniques; wet into wet in the stairs and in the lovely background washes, scraping, and skilled use of "paper white". This painting demonstrates a sophisticated water color artist that has a profound sense of balance in her compositions. Yet the wild lines of the scraping lead us to question, "What more can we do with watercolor?" In the following series of works we will see this question answered. This is a story of how we begin to manifest our individual creative intelligence in our work as artists.


" Fall Still Life" Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS
Watercolor 16x20
Available for Sale: Contact Eilene Flink

"Apple and Orange" Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

"Apple and Orange" began the break out sessions for Eilene. These two forms began to lose their identity as specific forms and became defined by the color story in the work. This painting began the journey into exploring all the possibilities that are available in this wonderful water media. The following works explore the internal creative consciousness of the artist.


"Apple and Orange" Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS
Watercolor 12x14
Available for Sale: Contact Eileen Flink

"Color Study One" Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

This was the first of the series of a break out session for Eilene Flink. In the following works we see the development of an artist in her work. Each piece in the following series of three paintings provides us with an in depth vision and understanding of the artistic process. What else can I do with this medium? Was a question Eilene began to explore in these sessions. Using traditional
watercolor techniques Eilene began to explore watercolor from the internal need to use the medium in a new way that gave her the freedom to let go of the object and look within individual creative consciousness to find the story in these beautiful works.


"Color Study One" Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS
Watercolor 16x20
Available for Sale: Contact Eilene Flink

"Color Study Two", Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

"Color Study Two" is the second work in this series and we are drawn again to the center of the work by the bold application of purple over a bright magenta. The paper white that is left on the page is stark and yet gives power to the large, quick blast of purple brush strokes that we see moving up the side of the painting. Are we looking at a bridge, a waterfall or are the colors bringing us to a new level of our own creative experience as we explore the depth of our own internal color story?
"Color Study Two", Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS
Watercolor 16x20
Available for Sale: Contact Eilene Flink

"Color Study Three" Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Arts Center, Baldwin City, KS

"Color Study Three" is the final in a very fast and exciting series of contemporary explorations into watercolor. Yellow reaches into the delicate blues of the background wash. Are we seeing flowers in  the bold, dramatic reds placed against fast green brush work in the painting or are we seeing the the explosion of creative intelligence that is taking place within the artist? Purples, blues, yellows, and a cascade of blues bring us closer to the artist and her journey as she explores the vibrant color from within her own consciousness.


"Color Study Three" Eilene Flink, Lumberyard Arts Center, Baldwin City, KS
Watercolor 16x20
Available for Sale: Contact Eilene Flink

"Through the Windows", Eileen Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

In this work we are able to see the color story unfold in the buildings and in the composition. The color remains clear and has the series has become more defined. The bright expressions of color form the architectural lines of the buildings. Lights are saved in critical points above the buildings, in the windows and in the doorways. These lights define Eilene's new perception and excitement exploring color. Fast brush strokes  move the color inviting us to look closer as we examine the scene.

"Through the Windows", Eileen Flink, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

This is the final work in the series. We can see the buildings have become more defined and expressed. The color remains clear and powerful against the snow covered streets. When Eileen completed this series I was excited by the break out, free method of working that had successfully developed during her time at the Lumberyard. These are very sophisticated works that exemplify a new sense of individuality and creative freedom. Eilene's works are a study in the development of an artist's individual creative intelligence. Her work has become a part of the artistry of her internal vision.  

"Downtown Baldwin City", Kathy Pojman, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

Kathy is a natural contemporary painter. Her work is highly expressive and creative. She uses different tools and techniques that are highly individualized in order to create texture, pattern and geometric forms. This is an image of downtown Baldwin looking through the window of the Lumberyard Art Center. There is a wonderful piece of stained glass with an artist's palette that hangs in the center of the window. Kathy kept her lights using a  lightly loaded brush combined with stampings to create many of the textures in the brick buildings across the street. This is a very lyrical painting.


"Downtown Baldwin City: Through the Windows", Kathy Pojman, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS
Watercolor 16x20
Available for Sale: Contact Kathy Pojman

"Apple and Orange" Mary Lou Heine, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

Mary Lou is a very free and expressive painter. She works beautifully in a very loose, free style that follows light across the page in soft fluid movements. Lights and darks are expressed in bold applications of color that move across the forms. Shadows are created in a more linear brush stroke that still manages to maintain her very loose style as they fade from beneath the forms. 

Mary Lou Heine, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin City, KS

Mary Lou Heine studying her work at the Lumberyard Art Center.

"Kansas Sunflowers" Sherri Boden, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin, KS

"Kansas Sunflowers" is Sherrie's first painting. I love the brilliant color story in her painting. The colors are clean, vibrant and exciting. The depth of the petals and confusion of petals is clearly defined in the bright purples, magenta, reds and orange hues. The petals have a wonderful expression of life and strength and boldness which is unusual for a first time painter. Sherrie's freedom in her use of colors is inspiring and the typical sunflower became a modern work of expressionism. 


"Kansas Sunflowers" Sherri Boden, Lumberyard Art Center, Baldwin, KS
Watercolor 16x20
Available for Sale: Contact Sherrie Boden Lumberyard Art Center

"Pumpkins" Ben Doss, Living Arts and Science Center, Lexington, KY

This is a work by Benn Doss, a high school student from  Kentucky. He was very interested in working with watercolor. It was very exciting to have him in class because of his sophisticated color work and internal vision. He asked me if it was alright to use colors that were not "realistic" and I told him to go for it. This is the result of his inspiration. Watercolor can be a challenging medium and his ability to keep his color clean and work using "wet into wet" watercolor technique is just amazing. He defined the forms using deeper purples and blues and worked very quickly. Working wet into wet was a perfect match to express his internal color story and creative intelligence. 

"Summer Trees" Taryn Leiter, Art Treks, Lexington, KY

Taryn is a very talented high school student. Taryn expressed an interest in painting Plein Air so she and I took off one afternoon to paint. I know of a lovely creek close to Lexington that is really one of the best places to study the effects of light on water. We were working in Watercolor. When we arrived at the creek it was high summer in the Kentucky Bluegrass. Taryn looked at me and said, "Everything is green." So I encouraged her to just take off and tell her internal color story in fast quick studies. This is the amazing result of her work. The painting is fresh bright, vibrant and full of the light and color of life. I love it!


"Summer Trees" Taryn Leiter, Art Treks, Lexington, KY
Watercolor 16x20
Available for Sale: Contact Taryn Leiter

"Fall Pumpkins" Darlene Doss, Living Arts and Science Center, Lexington, KY

This is one of the first paintings for Darlene Doss. I was so excited to have her for her  first watercolor class. She quickly moved into developing her own painting style. Her understanding of lights and darks and working wet into wet in Watercolor is demonstrated in the beautiful highlights left in the pumpkins. He background wash is soft, yet demonstrates that she is beginning to understand how to create form and volume with the deeper tones under the pumpkins. 


"Fall Pumpkins" Darlene Doss, Living Arts and Science Center, Lexington, KY
Watercolor
16x20
Available for Sale. Contact Darlene Doss

"Fall Still Life" Sharon Ross, Art Treks, Lexington, Kentucky

In another piece from Sharon Ross, "Fall Still Life" Sharon continues to explore color light and shadow. There is beautiful shadow work in the deepening folds of the fabric. These folds are further expressed in the highlights we see as the fabric moves much like the water in the following works "Kentucky Creeks" and "Summer Day at the Beach". These are all beautiful expressions of the dramatic play of light in painting. 


"Fall Still Life" Sharon Ross, Art Treks, Lexington, Kentucky
Oil 12x14
Available for Sale: Contact Sharon Ross on Face Book

"Day at the Beach", Sharon Ross, Art Treks, Lexington, KY

"Day at the Beach" is another work by Sharon Ross that explores the play of light on water. I love the shadows that extend beneath the feet of the children as they play in the gentle waves. The color of the waves is a soft aqua and the white of the surf plays beautifully against the soft white of the children's clothing. These are Sharon's grandchildren. The figurative work is very exciting and the interaction of the figures with the sea gives us the experience of those long, free days at the beach during summer vacation.
"Summer Waves", Sharon Ross, Art Treks, Lexington, KY
Oil
16x20
Available for Sale: Contact Sharon Ross Face Book

"Kentucky Creek" Sharon Ross Art Treks, Lexington Kentucky

"Kentucky Creek" by Sharon Ross has been exploring new media. This piece is an acrylic and captures the soft light of a meandering Kentucky creek. The color work in the creek and the shadows on the water from the trees is a wonderful example of how light plays on water. I love the confusion of the tangled forest growth at the bottom of the trees.

"Kentucky Creek" Sharon Ross, Art Treks, Lexington, KY

Acrylic

16x20

Available for purchase. Contact Sharon Ross on Face Book