QUICK & EASY

A life committed to art is not an easy one. The demands on creativity are many, and like most artists I often find myself facing the enormous daily question...What can I draw or paint that would be exciting, interesting, challenging, and of immense redeeming social value...at the same time being quick and easy?

Clearly I was in a dippy mood when I wrote the above comment in my journal in 1983. Quickness and ease are usually not the guiding principals in creativity, although there certainly are times when that happens, often unexpectedly.

But, there are also times when I find myself wandering aimlessly about the studio (as much as one can wander in the space I have.) looking for something to do but not wanting to get into anything major, in other words, something quick and easy, and fortunately there is such a thing...the small watercolor landscape. I began doing these small paintings/sketches in the fall of 2009; they were the inspiration for what would become a regular e-newsletter from Gallery 5. After almost a years hiatus I have returned to this daily exercise. They are fun to do, instructive in learning the behavior of colors and pigments, and last but not least...they are quick and easy!

Here are two such landscapes. They bear a strong resemblance to one another by design; I am planing on series of paintings of the same general composition/scene using different colors, lighting, and values. I anticipate it being a fun exercise. Each piece is approximately 5x7".