Slowing Down with Smaller Brush
Hello all you dedicated readers, my yellow lab Bacchus and his friends. it has been awhile as i finished a new book called "Play in creative problem-solving" based in part on the work of Friedrich Froebel the inventor of Kindergarten. I probably could have named it "kindergarten for adults". it delves into the role and meaning of play as the glue and catalyst in creative problem-solving and applies to most fields and domains. available on amazon.

As i have mentioned often in previous posts, i am a fast painter and sometimes out paint my control and awareness, choosing too many colors or over-working washes. as an experiment, i went to a smaller brush size, a no. 18 Winsor Newton round in order to slow down and be a bit more deliberate in my wash techniques. i think it is working. i just had a painting accepted for exhibition by the Western Colorado Watercolor Society in Grand Junction CO, February and March 2017--still an effort at semi-impressionism and with more deliberation in the painting techniques.

i am currently working on a new series for exhibition in April and May 2017 at the Prima Bistro in Langley WA beginning March 28. the new series is entitled "Explorations in Landscape" and captures the many scenes from my past travels as a community designer in Alaska, British Columbia and Washington. i have avoided landscapes over the years as i was unsure how to infuse energy and character into them beyond realistic representation. so i have incorporated some new brush techniques with the smaller size brush, with more deliberations and yet keeping a merging and mingling technique in the washes for variety and character. i will add some images in a couple of days as i am photographing and framing this weekend. more later, keep painting. ron k