New Orleans Reeds, (12 x 15 watercolor on paper) reserved for WFWS

Each year The Western Federation of  Watercolor Societies hosts a  juried show open to its member associations. The Western Federation of Watercolor Societies’ members association include:  the Arizona Watercolor Association, The Colorado Watercolor Society, The Idaho Watercolor Society, The New Mexico Watercolor Society, The Nevada Watercolor Society, The Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild, the San Diego Watercolor Society, The Southwestern Watercolor Society, The Utah Watercolor Society, The Watercolor Society of Oregon, and the West Texas Watercolor Society.

I am pleased to announce that New Orleans Reeds has been chosen as one of the 100 paintings to be exhibited in the 37th Annual Western Federation of Watercolor Societies Exhibition.  The exhibit will take place at the Marjorie Barrick Museum on The University of Nevada Las Vegas campus, from April 13th to May 19th, 2012.  This year the show was juried by Gerald Brommer, who will pick the award winners in April.

Jazz Buddies (watercolor on Aquabord) $300

My instrument show, “The Sound of Paint” opened Today at Art in the Valley, and continues through the end of November.  Reception Thursday, November 3rd at 5:00 pm.

I hung the paintings Sunday and I’m very pleased with the way they look.  In addition to the instrument paintings,  there will be a selection of matted original watercolors and a selection of my animal sculpture.

"Three Horns" (watercolor on canvas 16 x 16 inches) $400

Reeds Between Sets (6 x 6 watercolor on clayboard) SOLD

I painted this little watercolor just after we got back from vacation and promptly sold it at the Silverton Fine Art Fair a couple days later.  I love the composition and I’m tempted to do it again a little larger.

"Three Horns" (watercolor on canvas 16 x 16 inches) $400

I painted  this one specially for Salem Art Association’s Salon: Art2 exhibit. All of the artwork in the exhibit must be 16 x 16 inches inclusive of frame.  I had to think carefully how to meet the size requirement.  I didn’t want to fit a watercolor on paper into a 16 x 16 inch frame since the artwork would end up being 12 x 12 at most. I didn’t have any 16 x 16 inch aquabord either.  So I stretched watercolor canvas over a 16 x 16 inch frame and gallery wrapped the edges.

It has been quite some time since I tried painting on watercolor canvas.  Paint lifts from watercolor canvas even more easily than it does from clayboard.  The surface feels like a cross between clayboard an yupo (a plastic paper) to work on except that the unlike board or paper the canvas gives a little to the brush.  I like the canvas’ linen texture, but I’m not sure I like the painting experience as much as the board, though that may be just a matter of getting use to the new surface.

Prints are available through my gallery at Fine Art America.

Mothers' Day Daffodils (watercolor 5 x 7) $25.00

[This painting is currently on display at Art in the Valley, Corvallis, Oregon.]

I’ve spent my gallery shifts this month making postcard sized paintings for the OSU Mom’s Day Weekend Craft Fair.  It’s a fun fair to do.  Where else do you get to see a crowd of college boys with their moms?

As part of the Mom’s weekend celebration I’ll be at the gallery demonstrating  polymer clay cane-making on Friday from 1:00 to 2:30 at Art in the Valley, 209 2nd Street, downtown Corvallis.  The craft fair will be on campus in the Memorial Union Quad.   The fair runs from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday.

Three Tulips (watercolor 5 x 7) $25.00

Little Green Mister (5 x 7 watercolor)

Here are the last  two watercolors for my one woman mini-show at Art in the Valley, Corvallis Oregon.   Both are much smaller versions of recent paintings.  Both paintings were painted at Art in the Valley in late March.

I hang the show this Monday.  It will hang until Tuesday, May 4th.  During the show, I will be painting in the gallery on Wednesday April 14th, Wednesday, April 21, and Wednesday, April 28th.

Single Lily (5 x 7 watercolor) SOLD

The Green Mister (watercolor 10 x 14) $150.00

This is probably the last watercolor for my one woman mini show this coming April at Art in the Valley, Corvallis Oregon.

I’m using a new technique to replace liquid mask when reserving soft edged areas of white paper in many of  my latest still lifes.   Puddles of clear water on the paper will resist paint.  In this painting I made little lines of water along the reflected light from the mister and silver vase before painting the window sill.  The result is a soft sliver of white paper remaining after my washes.

To use the water resist technique use as much water as you can without running outside the area you wish to reserve.  You may need to renew the water fairly frequently too.

The water resist technique is more trouble than either masking whites or carefully painting around them, but it has the advantage of creating a much softer edge.  This technique is not suitable for fine detail.

Or purchase a print from Fine Art America.com.

Sundown on the Broken Dock (watercolor 12 x 16)

I have five admit-two-free tickets to the March 27-28th, Spring Best of the Northwest Art and Fine Craft at theWarren G Magnuson Park.  Admission is ordinarily $7.00 per person so the tickets are worth $14.00 each.   I’ll mail one ticket each to the first five people to send me their Washington mailing address at jennyarmitage@dancingfeatherstudio.com.

Update:  just three tickets left at noon PST.

Georgia in the Morning (11 x 14)

Twixt Wind and Water

I thought after sculpting for half a decade, I’d developed a pretty thick skin about displaying and selling my artwork. But I’ve discovered that my sculpture calluses provide no protection whatsoever for my tender painting skin. Rejection and acceptance still matter more than they should.

I’m not sure why this is so. It may be because somewhere in the back of my brain I only consider paintings to be “real” art.  But I don’t think so. I’ve admired too much sculpture and photography to believe that.   It might be because it’s new to me, but I’m not sure it’s that either.  I don’t think I was ever this raw about sculpture or quilting shows. I think the answer is simply that there is a great deal more of me in my paintings than there is in my sculpture, quilts or photos. But whatever the reason, when I submit my paintings I itch as I’ve never itched over applications before.

Grandma Braids

But getting paintings hung in galleries, art shows, and art festivals requires submissions followed by (gasp) acceptances and rejections. I’ve just begun to put my toes in the water. My paintings now hang at Art in the Valley, where my sculpture has already littered the shelves for a few years now. And in addition to the Oregon State Fair this past August, I’ll have my paintings in at least two art fairs. Each of those acceptances mattered in a way sculpture acceptances haven’t mattered for years. Nor would I have considered any of these shows a big deal for sculpture. In fact, I’ve been in these fairs for years. But they mattered for paintings all the same.

In addition to art fairs I’ve begun applying to watercolor societies. Signature membership in watercolor societies is the entrance to watercolor society shows as their shows are often member only. I applied to the Watercolor Society of Oregon earlier this month. The three paintings shown in this post are the painting I submitted to them for active membership.  Yesterday the acceptance came. I’m very happy, ridiculously happy given the that the prize is membership dues, and the right to submit paintings to shows.

Hungry, Vegan, and Broke

Memorial Day Waterworks (17 x 19) $275

I spent yesterday talking with people and watching their reactions to my paintings at the Artisan Village, a part of the Oregon State Fair. Mostly, the paintings I, and my family like are the paintings other people like. Also, many people from Wilsonville were charmed by Memorial Day Waterworks because they recognize Town Center Park. The Annex Pub and the seascapes were also popular. There were some surprises though. One of them was Hungry, Vegan and Broke.

I painted the two young men in Hungry, Vegan, and Broke as a kind of private joke. I saw them in in downtown Portland in front of Powell’s Books. And while they were obviously hot and tired, they looked healthy and able bodied. Certainly they didn’t look like they’d been hungry anytime in the recent past. And the sign was so absurd: “Hungry, Vegan, and Broke.” I could translate that sign two ways: “We Are High Maintenance Choosy Beggars;” or, “Feed Us Because We Are Such Good Moral Young Men.”

I liked my little joke, and I loved the afternoon sun on their skin. But I the reactions of my family and friends to the painting were mixed. I didn’t even consider making a print or greeting card of the painting, and I hesitated to frame it for the fair, but I did.   At the last moment I made some magnets of it too.

Well, the joke is on me.  Almost everyone who sees this painting smiles, and this is the painting everyone wants a print of.  I have sold more Hungry, Vegan, and Broke magnets than magnets of any other painting. Today I’ll place it more prominately in the booth.  Right now it’s down low and half hidden by a table.