Farmer's Market

"Buckets of Flowers"  10" x 14"  $475 Framed

This Saturday, May 4th, the Redmond Farmer's Market reopens for the season! I love the farmer's market with its colorful flowers and fresh fruit and vegetables piled high! Such beautiful bounty all within easy reach! I enjoying buying directly from the hands of the people who grow my food. The farmer's market reminds me of the connection and dependence we all have to Mother earth and I always feel so blessed by her generous gifts.

I've been wanting to do some paintings of the Redmond Farmer's Market for years, but I've always been intimidated by the amount of detail in the scenes. I have this natural tendency to paint every little tiny unimportant thing with the same emphasis. This painting is part of my ongoing attempts to try to teach myself to paint only what's really important in a complicated picture. In this painting, the light on the buckets of flowers is what counts most. The sense of crowded busyness is achieved in the background with only simple shapes.

Watch for more farmer's market paintings coming soon!

Fun New Art Magnets Available!

Some of the museums I've visited during the past few years have had these nifty little art magnets of paintings in the gift stores. I always have to bring a few home. My fridge is like a little mini gallery of famous paintings I've seen. So, when I discovered I could get these little beauties made from my own paintings, I just had to do it!

These cute little magnets are 2" x 2". I've created 12 different designs from my paintings.

You can order them at:
http://www.zazzle.com/catherinejamesart

The coolest thing I've discovered about Zazzle is that they ship anywhere in the world for local postal rates! This saves a bunch if you want to order internationally. (I have family in England and I really love this feature!) Zazzle also gives you discounts if you order in quantity. (It's actually cheaper to order 10 magnets than it is 8!)

I know Mother's Day is coming up soon. Maybe this year Mom would like some beautiful (magnetic) flowers that will never wilt. She'll think of you every day, and maybe even use these magnets to hang things from you (or the grandkids) on her refrigerator!

Mossy Japanese Garden

I was lucky enough to visit the Portland Japanese Garden this February. I've been there several times before, but always in spring and summer. In winter, the garden has a beauty of another kind. The elegant branches of the Japanese maples were fully exposed. And the moss! The moss was very happy when we visited in February! It was misting (of course) and there was such a peaceful stillness with the soft green moss. The Northwest winter at it's best!

In addition to the beautiful moss, this scene fascinated me because of the different levels in the pond. There is the bottom of the pool with it's rounded gravel, then the fish in the water, and the various reflections at the surface.

I took these pictures as I painted. My lighting is not the best indoors, and some photos were taken inside, and others outside, depending on the weather. Please forgive the inconsistencies in the quality of the photos.

Here's my pencil drawing on 140# arches paper. I've stretched the paper on gator board. To the left is a sketchbook with my gray-scale study and notes about what is important about this painting. I always try to write down "The Big Thing" about this painting or the most important thing I need to communicate. I also list risks or things to watch out for and places where I'm likely to mess-up or lose my whites. You can also see my printed reference photos. I combined elements from several photos to make the best possible painting.

Before I begin, sometimes I preserve my whites with masking fluid. Here, you can see the beige areas in the lower left covered in masking fluid. These will be white reflections later on. I started with some larger washes to lay in some general color, but I decided to work on the painting in smaller, wetter sections. I would wet an area like the rock, so the colors would blend easily, then use really thick, saturated paint to try to get all the paint down in one go.

Working on the water and background, section by section, trying to keep the paper wet wherever I'm working. I had so much fun with all the different colors in the water!

Masking fluid has been removed in the lower left, but the remaining white shapes need to be softened and blended to fit into the painting. Strangely, I left the main subject, the Japanese lantern and tree, until last. (Usually, I do the focal point first.)

"Moss Garden Pond"  18" x 24"  $750 Framed

Here's the finished painting. I hope you enjoyed seeing the process!

To see other watercolor paintings I've done of the Portland Japanese Garden click here and here.

Cherry Blossoms and the First Breath of Spring

"First Breath of Spring"  11" x 16"  $475 Framed   

If you saw my blog post from March 12, you'll know I've been having great fun painting cherry blossoms and trying to capture the delicateness of the petals while using less and less color. This is the 5th painting in my recent series of close up cherry blossoms and it takes the silhouetting of the blossoms to it's furthest extent yet.

I am very pleased with how I've managed to interpret the cool spring sunlight with only a hint of warmth. Rather than communicating colorful exuberance, these blossoms are like the first delicate, fragile hope and promise of spring!