Nevada Watercolor Society Hosts Studio Tour

Above, left to right, myself, Cheryl , Jan Schaeffer, Karen Saberzadeh, Darragh Goodsite, and Maria Frank

On Saturday, March 14 the Nevada Watercolor Society hosted a studio tour as a fundraiser for our upcoming Western Federation Exhibition. Local artists Dottie Burton, Sheila Spargo and I opened our studios and had the pleasure of greeting over 35 friends and fellow painters. This is a photo taken in my studio with one of the earlier groups to arrive. I had one of my large desert watercolors on my painting table and was able to use it to illustrate how I paint the underglaze effects before flowing on the large washes which complete my paintings. My guests asked so many good questions and it was a pleasure answering them all. I also shared my framing room and other areas of the house where we have paintings on display.

My husband and I spent a few weeks getting ready for this tour by polishing up the house and doing gardening. But the biggest area to receive the spring cleaning was of course the studio. I had not done a good organizing in there in years and so this was the perfect incentive to get it done. I even found old portfolios full of drawings and paintings that I thought I had lost years ago! It was a great day full of art, food and conversations with a very diverse group of artists.

Sketchbook Pages

These flowers were sketched from the centerpiece we placed on the dinning room table during the studio tour. My daughter set up the veggie and fruit plates, drinks and the bouquet. She did a beautiful job as hostess. More magenta colored lilies from this bouquet opened during this past week and I couldn't resist sketching them in the mornings after breakfast.

"Rainbow Falls" Watercolor

"Rainbow Falls At Mammoth Lakes"
10" x 14" Original Watercolor
$200.00

A few years ago my husband and I were spending a few days at Mammoth Lakes. We were visiting my brother-in-law and his family. One morning my brother-in-law took us on a hike to Rainbow Falls. We left early in the morning, the weather was perfect and the hike through the forest area to reach the falls was punctuated with fresh air, beautiful scenery and good conversation. It was very thoughtful of my brother-in-law to take time out from his busy day to show us this beautiful place. It is apply named as there was a wide rainbow across the falling water. I did this painting of it shortly after our visit but I didn't include the rainbow as I was a little unsure of my ability to depict that effect using transparent watercolor. It was hard enough getting the effect of the falls dissipating into mist over the moss carpeted rocks! Just a few weeks ago I went back into this painting and added twice as many pine trees in the background as I had originally painted. This little painting has always been one of my favorites because it brings back the memories of that morning.

Sketchbook Pages