so long summer

Backyard Summer

watercolor

8 x 12 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

It has been a long and very warm summer here in our Southern Mountains. And the flowers in our yard have been just glorious. We have a patch of Black Eyed Susans that I love to see in bloom every year, they are such happy flowers. And I am glad that I took the opportunity to paint them before we say good bye to another summer.

only what matters

Behind Pompano

watercolor

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

This painting is inspired by a view of a small canal that runs behind Pompano Street on Edisto Beach, SC. It is a scene that I have attempted to paint several times yet was never satisfied with the result. I was trying to say too much with too many details. The heavy stillness of that lowcountry air with the quiet water that rises with the tide eluded all of my previous attempts. Now finally, by simplifying the elements in the scene, I have a painting that captures what I was after and by now it is a scene that I know very well!

Coneflowers

watercolor

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

By contrast, this painting was one that came about rather quickly and effortlessly. Although I have painted the coneflowers from our garden in the past, I usually fussed about with them looking for a different, more literal result. Here I went straight in with paint with no preliminary sketching. I have found I am usually more successful getting what I am after painting flowers this way as I am better able to express the freshness that is flowers.

With both paintings it was the stripping down the subject to just the essentials that provided me with the best success. Yes, there is a lesson to be learned here.

Red Geranium on Blue Chair

Red Geranium on Blue Chair

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

A blue chair sits on our little side porch and is our prop for seasonal decorations. In summer it's a potted flower, this year a bright red geranium. I love when the morning light of summer streams onto the little porch making patterns of shadow dance across the side of the house there. When I was thinking about making a painting from this image I imagined all sorts of ways to approach it. I thought about including marks of drawing, perhaps abstracting that scroll of the plant stand in the corner, adding pattern possibly with stenciled shapes, and on and on. In the end I just painted, and enjoyed finding the washy shadows and light filled leaves with my paint brush.

my backyard

Backyard Series - Spring I

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

I am calling this a series because I fully intend to continue with this theme of following the change of seasons through the plant life in my own backyard. This first painting celebrates the blooming forsythia in early spring. I love seeing those blossoms appear with their explosion of vibrant yellow as one of the first announcements that spring is here at last. This painting is watercolor with a little watercolor pencil, along with some stenciling with watercolor paint on 300 lb cold pressed paper.

sketchbook :: lilacs again

I wanted to capture my lilac bush while it still had blossoms, so on a warm afternoon last week I sat outside and quickly sketched with watercolor. This is a view looking up at the top most branches of what is now a pretty tall shrub. The blossoms were swaying in the breeze and bright sunlight. This was sketched with a little watercolor pencil and watercolor in an eight by eight inch hand.book watercolor skeychbook.

just one more

Pink Joy

watercolor

8 x 10 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

Pink has to be one of the happiest colors and I couldn't resist doing just one more painting of these joyful tulips. I kept the palette lighter this time, with less contrast to emphasize the lightness of the sun streaming in through the window. And of course, as with the other tulip paintings, the abstract shapes of the leaves was a fun puzzle to work out in the composition.

sketchbook :: spring's blooming in my yard

I wasn't sure I would see lilac blossoms this year after the hard freeze we had a few weeks back. Many of the lilac buds did turn brown and wither, but a few survived and are now beginning to bloom. My lilac bush is a favorite of mine and I so look forward to its fragrant blossoms each spring.

And although the forsythia is mostly finished blooming now, they were spectacular this year. Ours are not kept in tidy hedges, but grow wildly at the edge of our woods. This year the color was so vibrant they reminded me of fireworks bursting forth in all their golden yellow glory.

Both sketches were done with watercolor only in an 8 x 8 inch hand.book watercolor journal.

tulips again

Spring's Promise

watercolor

8 x 10 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

Pink tulips in a vase beside a sunny window seem to beckon spring. I was inspired to paint this set up again, although from a little different view point, because of the intrigue of the nearly abstracted pattern created by the leaves. And, of course, the glow of those pink blossoms in the sunlight was too much to resist.

Happiness Blooms

Happiness Blooms

watercolor

8 x 10 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

I was going to do another tulip painting, but my daffodils are blooming. Perfect timing for the Equinox, as I love seeing all their sunny blossoms outside my window. 

And I always enjoy having a few as cut flowers, a simple arrangement on my table, 

welcoming spring at last. 

Of course snow is in the forecast for our weekend. 

Daffodils in snow happens nearly every spring around here.

Tulip Song

Tulip Song

watercolor

8 x 10 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

Just a few weeks ago these tulips sat boldly beside my sunny window announcing the coming of spring, despite the cold temperatures we were still experiencing. I love tulips with their strong assurance that spring will indeed arrive.  I made a few sketches and snapped several reference photos as the blooms were opening. While painting this composition I couldn't help thinking that the blossoms looked as if they were raising their heads in song.

December Bloom

December Bloom

watercolor

8 x 10 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

It wouldn't be December without a painting of a poinsettia. My poinsettia sits in a sunny spot on our table. I enjoyed the play of sunlight and shadow on those velvety red leaves.

Equinox

Equinox

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

That time of year when day and night are equal length signals a turning of the season. This painting was inspired by the changing light that accompanies the cycle of the seasons. As the days grow shorter light becomes more of a celebration, something to notice and treasure. And I couldn't help but notice the sunlight shining through the flowers and the glass milk jug on my table. I enjoyed creating shapes inspired by the shapes of the flowers. Circles and dots repeat like the cycle of seasons while the flowers dissolve into a pattern as a pattern of years.

Daisy Daisy

Daisy Daisy

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

. . . give me your answer true...a song I remember my grandmother singing and one that I would sing to my daughter when she was very little. These daisies grew in our yard and along with the peaches sitting on our kitchen table in one of our hand made ceramic bowls made for a fun still life to paint. I created stencil shapes inspired by the shapes of the petals, leaves and the pattern on the bowl. The movement and repetition of their shapes throughout the painting reminded me of that old song while I painted.

looking back to move forward

Sunflower Play

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

This painting celebrates the cheerfulness of sunflowers accompanied by daisies and phlox in a brightly colored pitcher that graced my summertime table. I was inspired to enhance the liveliness of the blooms with a repeat blossom and leaf pattern dancing throughout the composition. I especially liked the light streaming in from behind the flowers as well as the unusual angle of the photo, with the pitcher and table in a slightly skewed perspective. That was my starting point for playing with this composition. I had previously sketched this same flower arrangement here. If you are interested in my process for this painting, keep reading. . .

*I will warn you now that this post is much longer than my usual postings and contains a lot of photos!*

Now for the history of the development of this painting. You may recall my big studio re-organization earlier this summer. This was when I unearthed my old box of stencil shapes. I have been waiting for the right opportunity and inspiration to put them to use again. The stencils are all hand made by me. The oldest stencils I made from scrapes of card stock and cardboard and are nearly 30 years old. At one point I began making stencils from frosted drafting film. You can see the layers of acrylic and oil paint that built up on those very oldest stencils.

Here is a detail of an oil painting from the mid-90s where I used a bird stencil. That bird shape was one of my favorites and showed up in several paintings. Sorry for the poor photo, the painting now lives in our bedroom.

Now back to my current painting. I discovered that cosmetic sponges are the perfect tool for applying watercolor with a stencil. And in some places, I used a squirt from a water mister to soften the shape after paint was applied.

With watercolor paint the stenciled shapes maintain some transparency, which I found delightful compared to when I used acrylic or oil.

And glazing over a stenciled area adds depth to the color. 

Here is the finished painting again, where I am mining the past to move my art forward. And thank you for scrolling this far! My most recent purchase was for more drafting film, a new x-acto knife and erasers to make stamps. Did I not mention stamps? Yep, I used to make those too.

Sunflowers

Sunflower

watercolor

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

For Ellen

watercolor

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

I worked on two paintigs of sunflowers this week, a sort of last tribute to summertime here in our southern mountains. The top sunflower painting was inspired by sunflowers brought home from the market that graced our summer table. The sunflower below came from and image captured of sunflowers growing in our garden. We did not plant them there. Someone, or rather something else did the planting, most likely from the seeds from our bird feeder. But we enjoyed those sunny blooms all the same.

Flowers

Lily

watercolor

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

Geranium

watercolor

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

I have been so busy exploring landscape painting that it did me good to interrupt that pursuit with a couple of flowers in watercolor in celebration of summer. The lily lives in our front bed and it is always so joyful to see those bright yellow flowers each summer. The geranium is in a pot on our back deck. It's such a pretty rosy pink I may try keeping it inside over the winter so I can enjoy its blooms next year.

Market Sunflowers and other adventures

Market Sunflowers

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

This painting was truly an adventure to paint. It is an image that I had wanted to try for some time yet I needed to be well prepared to tackle this complex subject. And it really was a puzzle of shapes and color that I enjoyed working out on paper. I captured this scene at our local farmers' market last summer and managed to paint it in time for the start of another farmers' market season, and just before we left for our annual trip to Edisto Beach.

Our Edisto adventure was glorious this year. Fantastic weather and a great cottage rental led to many hours of inspiration and art making. This was our screened porch where much creativity happened.

It was a wonderful spot to sit and do daily sketches. There was always something available as subject for a sketchbook page.

As the days wore on that large picnic table accumulated more and more objects, collected from our beach walks and found in local shops, produce for our next meal creation, and art supplies as well.

While at Edisto I also left several new art works at With These Hands Gallery. And here I am sketching the view of the marsh from Jungle Road Park. I will post some of the sketches made on this trip as soon as I can get them scanned and ready. Stay tuned...

time for flowers

There is something so joyful about seeing my lilac bush blooming in the spring. Last spring we had a late freeze and it didn't bloom at all. So I am delighted to see the blossoms this year in spite of our cool days and night time freezing temperatures. These sprigs of lilac were sketched with watercolor only in my hand made sketchbook.

The first wild-flower of the year is like land after sea.

-Thomas Wentworth Higginson, "April Days"

And here is a sneak peek at my current painting in progress. The image I photographed last summer at our local farmers' market. I am taking my time with this one, so many shapes in this composition! It is often tempting to go too dark with some values and not dark enough with others, so it was helpful to get that central dark area established early on.

Shape by shape, I enjoy dropping in color and allowing the wet pigment work its magic on the surface of the paper. This is one of those paintings that I can envision in its finished state. I can only go along for the ride until the journey is complete and hope it doesn't disappoint.

sketchbook :: seeking color

A sketch of a grocery store bouquet in a thrift shop pitcher. Because this boldly colored pitcher demands brightly colored flowers.

sketchbook :: sunflowers

We went to our local farmers' market last Saturday where sunflowers were abundant. So I brought some home to paint in my Strathmore watercolor sketchbook. Of course, I put the wrong date on the page - it was sketched on Sunday, the 24th, the day after the market.

However, the sunflowers are still glorious today as they continue to grace our dining table.