Southwest Abstractions: Watercolors

"Let the water do the work," words offered by Santa Fe artist and mentor Mary Bonkemeyer, have proven to be an important lesson in watercolor painting.  As Mary often cautioned, an artist should be open to the "unintended consequences" and "nuances" of the water doing the work.  Santa Feans like to boast that we enjoy as many as 340 days of sun each year.  In these watercolors, I have tried to capture the sun wherever I could find it --reflecting off rooftops, lakes, snow-capped mountains and garden walls.  

Pueblo Village, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24, 2017

 

Cactus Blossom III, acrylic on silk, 12 x 12

2017  See more of the Cactus Blossom series on Small Works page.

Check out Bonnie's Blog for News, Techniques, Inspiration

01/05/17 Politically-inspired "Preserving Democracy" series (see full series on Social/Political Mixed Media page)

05/27/16 Old World Abstractions -- new works in collage.

01/13/16 Richard Diebenkorn-Inspired Art

03/29/15 Art Accepted in 2015 Juried Show of Santa Fe Historical Society

10/04/14 Pure Poetry: How Poetry Can Inspire Art

9/05/14 Experimenting with Acrylic Mediums

6/7/14 Der Blaue Reiter Collection, Munich

4/14/14 Light-Inspired Art: Small Jewels

1/23 Prismatic Effects of Water-Based Media

1/05/14  Using Oil Sticks to Create Dramatic Effects

10/31/13 On Studying Other Artists

10/19 Unintended Consequences Using Water-based media

10/12 Painting the Seasons of New Mexico

8/31 Composition: The Arrangement of Contrasting Forms

7/31 New Mexico: A Painter's Paradise

7/17 Intensifying Watercolor Effects

6/02 Creating Atmosphere with Glazes

6/01 The Photography/Painting Debate

5/25 Capturing Fleeting Light on a Garden Wall

And more.....