Just a Bit of Watercolor Sky
Today I worked on collaging some sky for a new art quilt. It’s a beach scene and I’ve created the sky in hot oranges.
I have always loved watercolor. I am sure this is the influence of my undergraduate art studies at Stetson University from 1972-1976. The department chair, Fred Messersmith, was an accomplished watercolor painter. His class demos were of fresh, quickly-produced scenes of water and sky. Here’s a sample of his work.
Watercolor painting by Fred Messersmith. His students were inspired by the rich colors and fresh painting strokes.
As I have developed my own monotype and collage methods in the studio, the results I like best are ones that have a bit of watercolor-like transparency. This will come from a combination of transparency in the application of the acrylic paints and printing onto a semi-transparent fabric.
Here’s a section of the orange sky fabric ready to collage.
It goes down quickly. I paint the medium on freely and let the excess Squoosh out as I rub the fabric down onto the background. Here I’m collaging the orange sky onto cotton muslin I’ve prepared with a wash of white acrylic.
Here are some of the effects that will be in the final work.
The orange sky beachscape quilt is still in the early stages of work. But this is a stage I enjoy a lot.
And now for one that’s DONE!
For several weeks I have been posting abut the large 4-panel quilt that has occupied my attention. It’s a journey quilt, exploring the emotional reality of being a young girl in the 1950’s, sorting out the expectations of the times. Here’s a detail.
It’s titled “What Were We Supposed to Be?” I have posted the completed piece on my website and there’s a lot more information there. It’s in the journeys and stories gallery. I hope you’ll take a look. HERE
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com
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