Candace’s wonderfully-unusual FCC Armeni White

[streetmorrisart]

...that she enthusiastically agreed to let me interpret—if only I’d had the real thing in front of me (I’d have held it hostage):

Pale, more uniformly-colored flowers make the best use of what watercolor has to offer, for me anyway. With them, there’s less detail I can mimic to trick people into believing the end result is “realistic” (can’t forget I’m not approaching my subjects from a purely-illustrational standpoint), so I’m encouraged to abandon those fine brushes entirely (my work would be better if I snapped them in half) and let the pigment flow a bit with the help of my big guys. I really don’t rely too much on the small ones…less and less. By the time I’m elderly, I’ll be half-blind anyway and making collages as Matisse did!

 

[Candace]

I'm honored you liked it enough to paint it. It's a fantastic likeness and you are VERY talented.

 

[Heather]

What an awesome partnership! That's why I like this place so much.

 

[NYEric]

Very nice.

 

[streetmorrisart]

It’s definitely been very cool for me to meet up with other growers this way. I don’t think anyone here posts any bummers in the way of orchids, just a limited number of hours in our days, and of course some people wouldn’t be flattered if I painted their plants (or all-out not want me to as though I’d be stealing their souls). And I do so much other art too that my orchid pieces are limited to stuff that just strikes me personally, that I know I’m not going to be growing myself anytime soon.

In other “news” though, any of you in the St. Louis area who are free on said date and so inclined, please come back me up at my group show’s opening next month (I’ve been known to not show up myself because I find a lot of them to be some combination of demoralizing and baselessly-pretentious) Saturday, November 10th from 7-9pm. Three of my pieces (not orchid-inspired) were juried in by the Chief Curator of the Modern and Contemporary Art Collection at the Museum of Art in Portland—pretty surprising to me because they were very personal pieces I entered on a whim along with some more technically-suitable works. Totally a bit of encouragement to wake up and do what you want with your days when possible rather than trying to please others. Here are the links and a bit of explanation for my orchid friends who care! Please PM or email me through my site if you can make it so I know who to look for.

Seiwa-en is the Missouri Botanical Garden’s wonderful Japanese garden. They have a festival every year in honor of it, and place lanterns at the perimeters of their lake filled with beautiful Koi which I love to feed by hand; my husband and I went for an evening walk there during this event, and it’ll forever be stuck in my mind: http://www.streetmorrisart.com/Seiwa-en.html (It isn’t for sale.)

Hotaru-gari means “firefly watching”, and this is inspired by viewing them in Forest Park across the street our first summer here—I’ve always adored them, but I’ve never seen them in such volume. It’s without question one of the most spiritual experiences of my life: http://www.streetmorrisart.com/fireflywatching.html (This one isn’t for sale either.)

And the third, is inspired by one of the more recent evenings hanging out with some dear friends and patrons of mine in Manchester, Michigan. I brought some nice sake to share, and we just sat around watching the light fade from the summer sky, the smoke from their sauna moving across it: http://www.streetmorrisart.com/saunasmokeandsake.html (This one is available for purchase, assuming said art organization doesn’t sell it, but I have to give them a crack at it first at this point).

Robin

 

[T. migratoris]

Wow. I'm an engineer - I do lines, grades & numbers which completely eliminates the need for artistic talent. I often wish I had the ability to interpret natural shapes & colors the way true artists can.

 

[SlipperFan]

Nice work, Robin.

 

[goldenrose]

Beautiful job!

 

[Hien]

wish I have nice flowers so they could be painted

 

[paphioboy]

Wowee...!!!!!

 

[streetmorrisart]

I’m pleased you guys like it—very much appreciate all the kind words.

 

[Grandma M]

How wonderful it must be to be able to express what is in your heart and soul, and be able to put it on canvas.

You have great talent.

 

[tocarmar]

Robin,
I believe that you have a great talent that expresses whats in your heart to you're hands & it comes out on canvas.
It is a gift you don't see very often!! You are blessed with a gift & I hope others (some already do) think you are given a great talent.

Tom

 

[Corbin]

You are very talented and I say that as one artist to another.

 

[streetmorrisart]

Nice boosts of confidence here--thanks again!

At the risk of sounding completely ungracious, I work exclusively on archival paper--the 140-300Ib stuff (in layman's terms, "thick"). I used to work in oil and acrylic on canvas, but gave it up when I discovered professional-quality watercolor pigments; I usually use single color pigments and mix everything myself, as opposed to using convenience pigments which are rarely as lightfast.

I am officially an idiot for not posting the basics of my methods previously though so you all knew what you were looking at!