Watercolor Gift

My friend Cassie Schilliger paints glorious things in watercolors (she does awesome photography too!) … I love all of them but my very favorite has to be her Hermit Crab! This crab … every time I see it .. I just have to look at it again and again … I marvel anew each time that anyone can take watercolors and make something so vibrant, so colorful and appearing so detailed using watercolors. Yes I know that many artists do this easily all the time. I am not one of them and I really appreciate the skill and talent that goes into these gorgeous paintings.

I love the collage of it against the beach photograph too … it looks natural .. yet it makes the hermit crab stand out even more I think. The beach kind of blends into the background where it should be and brings the hermit crab to the forefront of being the focal point …. I like the fact that it is almost surrealistic … I know from seeing hermit crabs at the beach in Galveston that the angle of the beach background and the hermit crab would be nearly impossible to happen naturally … but I love how Cassie has done this and made it appear natural and whole and showcases her hermit crab (and for me, her skills/talents with both a watercolor brush and a computer editing program. Neither are easy to do … but the effect is stunning!) … this print would look fabulous in any setting.

Today’s featured art is Watercolor Hermet Crab by Cassie Schilliger

Watercolor Hermet Crab by Cassie Schilliger — View Larger

Tags: Cassie Schilliger, Watercolor Hermet Crab, Imagekind, watercolor, hermit crab, crab, seascape, sea, water, beach

Decorative Idea

I think this print (the largest possible size before framing is 11″ x 11″) would be wonderful in a frame that stands on a sofa table or dining room chest without a hutch … I would prefer a sand color runner on it so it doesn’t detract emphasis from the print … then surround it with seashells (you can buy them in hobby stores if you are not close enough to the beach to collect your own) … then perhaps also put a small 1 or 2 gallon fish tank balanced for a pleasing composition on the table top if it is a good sized table … we do not want it to appear empty … we do want to have the print be the focal point though … put a goldfish or two in the aquarium and you have a very unique seashore focal point for a room.

You could put some greenery there as well if you like but I would be careful not to take the emphasis away from the print with too much - greenery can over-power objects around it if you are not very careful … you could always get a palm tree for the floor on either end of the table to complete the seashore grouping if you like palm trees … they have silk palm trees for indoors if you do not want to try growing a real one in the house

And if you collect stuffed animals … you could also put some sea life stuffed animals on the table - I have three starfish from my trip to San Francisco last year that would be perfect in a seashore table grouping.

My friend Kristen Fox has gorgeous watercolor paintings. They are lively, emotional, colorful and a complete story in a painting. Great paintings tell a story … it may not be the story that the artist had in mind or it may be .. we do not know unless we talk to the artist and ask if the story we find is the one they meant to tell. For me, part of the joy in finding and looking at other people’s art is to find the story in their painting that speaks to me. It is awesome to know the artist and to ask about the story they were telling to see if it matches the one I found but it is not an absolute requirement by any means.

Today’s featured art is Tie Dye Turtle by Kristen Fox

Tie Dye Turtle by Kristen Fox — View Larger

Tags: Kristen Fox, Tie Dye Turtle, Imagekind, tortoise, tie dye, turtle

Many people find it hard to verbalize the story they found in an artist’s work … not because they haven’t found it but because it is usually a “just knowing and feeling” than something that is put into words. Because it is my day job to put words into pictures and to find words for the pictures … I deliberately try to find words to verbally share the stories that artists tell in their paintings. How else can I express to my family or friends why I like or do not like a particular painting … be it mine or someone else’s work?

Many times watercolors are thought of as pastel-ish soft looking/feeling artwork instead of bright colorful vibrant pieces - I find that to be true of some watercolor paintings … but many are just as colorful and vibrant as an oil painting albeit differently.

Kristen’s watercolor paintings are a wonderful mix of both worlds and all in between. For example, her Blue Watercolor Quilt, Autumn Quilt and La Conciergerie are only three examples of colorful and vibrant watercolors. They zing just looking at them - they reach out and shout “Notice Me!” I doubt you could overlook them in a room anywhere on any wall no matter how shadowy or dim the light.

Somewhere in California does qualify for soft, serene and peaceful - the story it tells me is a contrast to the look & feel though - a lone tree in the middle of nowhere, alone against the sky trudging over the mountain, tall, naked to the elements, bent against the wind while trying to go up and over the hill into the sunshine while leaving the winter chill in it’s wake.

Watercolor Abstracts are so much fun to create and to see … for me, they have much more impact than oils … the reason for this is because generally the contrasts are much more pronounced because of the very nature of watercolor paintings. Breach of Containment illustrates this contrast quite well. The deep reds move me around the painting and are the first thing I notice .. but the path through the painting is filled with blues, greens, yellows, purples as well as reds and shades of all those colors in various areas. This painting to me says paths and roads less traveled as well as paths well traveled … are you on the right path … do you need to check your direction … do you need to change direction … are you focused … are you wandering the desert lost … I could sit and wander around this painting for hours searching for the answers to those questions and enjoy every second of it happily.

Great art tells stories … great art makes us question ourselves and our world view and the entire world around us many times … and the only one with the answers to the questions we find in great paintings are within ourselves … we are the only ones who can find our own truth.

Strive to find the stories within yourself and allow them to arrive in the world as your visual truth that opens the door of enlightenment for anyone brave enough to open their own doors of truth for themselves in appreciating your art.

All of Kristen’s watercolors would make great gifts for art and watercolor lovers. Why? They make us feel … they make us question ourselves and the world .. they decorate the walls and coordinate with the furniture and/or your chosen color theme. They would not dominate or over-power the room while being wonderful focal points and centerpieces to any decorator theme or style.

Decorative Idea

For example, the La Conciergerie would be lovely in a stairwell or at the top or bottom of a staircase … it would brighten up the area as well as give reason for stopping to examine the wall art along the way. It would also be an elegant way to encourage elderly visitors to take their time going up the stairs without it seeming to be an admonishment of their approaching frailty in advancing age or infirmity (arthritis is really hard to be fast going up stairs at any age I find!).

La Conciergerie by Kristen Fox

La Conciergerie by Kristen Fox — View Larger

Tags: Kristen Fox, La Conciergerie