Stressing the importance of "water" in watercolors

At my recent Reddi Arts class, I decided to do an exercise or two that would stress the importance of water and saturated color in watercolors. Too often beginning students "starve" their paintings of the water in a watercolor painting. Water is the carrier medium for the pure pigment, as oil is the carrier of pigment in an oil painting. But the properties are completely different and cannot be overlooked. Oil allows the smooth distribution of pigment by continually brushing the paint. Watercolor is a minimalist activity, "where you let the water do the heavy lifting" ! Thats why I am fond of saying "Doing a watercolor is a poetic or "zen" activity." In watercolor you allow for the unexpected. I have often said water is the closest thing to spirit you get on earth. Use that water to allow the flow of the unexpected to happen, don't over stroke or overwork to get your results to look fresh. Get the space wet drop in saturated color into that wet space and let it happen. Thats where the real fun is!

The Poem as Artist Statement/ Narrative

I am a mighty oak, but nothing if not a fool,
Still watching, and waiting, trying to keep my cool,
To try hard to forget an unpeaceful past,
Questioning I ask “why doesnt anything last?”
My tired body frame beaten by time,
Grand oak etched and reduced to a rythm and line
Hypnotic music reverberates inside me
Rocking a symphony in my soul sea,
Waves of emotion pass through my core,
Locked in my body on the beach floor,
Darkness banishes an ignorant world,
Watercolor surf pounds a wave hurled
On white weathered melody of winds’ circumstance,
So many stars, truths uncovered by chance,
A wave, a shadow, a mind now unfettered
Pregnant with memories, old friends remembered,
Promising love, promising ten thousand things,
I’m still waiting for the wisdom bell ring,
Relations, unfolding, soulmates thought sharing
Promises of hope, trust and much caring
An ocean of mind, bold sunset and storm
Wind, waves wood, all emotions reborn,
A word passes for truth, all ego is vanity
Shadows and dust, changing, challenging sanity,
Wood is my moment, and wind is ethereal
A wave like ten thosuand before it, eternal,
Deaths’ lessons bring a message much hollow,
Still, watching, I wait, for wisdom to follow,
Footprints are covered, my trail is forgotten
My wood is eternal, I am not yet rotten
I’ll be here tomorrow, and probably more,
Silently watching your memories as you pass by the shore.
-Gordon Meggison IV-

Ensemble in Golds and Grays

This triptych was inspired by the two pieces below. Alissa Bennett of Design Studio A at www.DesignstudioA.net, saw these two pieces named Aqua and Silver #1 and #2 and loved them for her project at the Shakespeare House in Ormond Beach Florida. It lead to this prototype for my new series "Wind , Water, Wood" . It will be a more mature look at first the east coast, then the west in terms of "Power vs Force"., (David R. Hawkins MD.) a principle of human behavior. I will use this series as a metaphor to expressive both the creative and destructive elements of nature, and how the rhythms exemplified in wood create a narrative of a life lived in all its stages. These "Boneyards" stir up a lot of memories, feelings, and moods when one walks among them and they change as clouds do as one walks around them, and at different times of the day. They became a type of face on which is etched life and the kinesiology of a muscular natural process of force and power within all life. I wrote a poem related to this, as if the tree could talk and observe. It can be viewed on my blog www.gordonmeggison.blogspot.com

The early works

Im in the Amelia Islander Magazine!

A recent house I did was featured in the Amelia Islander Magazine. There were nine bathrooms and powder rooms in it, and I did them all! Here is a view of the magazine article. http://www.ameliaislander.com

Students Excel in Oil Class

Stacey Myers has been such a joy to have in class, she brings a lot of great energy to the class. She's never painted in oils before but has taken to it like a fish to water. Heres a closeup of her piece. Sunanda is doing a stellar job, with a little of my help toward completing a portrait. Way to go Sunanda.
Gary Bragg the ever self effacing humorist has the right steadfast attitude and continues to learn and progress even though he tackles rather complex landscape themes.

A Poet Among Us

I am blessed to have very interesting and talented students, but one of particular note is Vinod Deshmukh MD who brought as a present for me one day after class, a book of his photographs and poetry. I just wanted to highlight his work here and comment once again on the fine collection of original works he's assembled.

Oil Painting progress

Here are a couple of my oil painting students hard at work. Stacey is painting for the first time and loving it!

When realism crosses over to abstraction

These paintings called Ensemble in Golds and Silvers, crosses the boundary of abstraction and contemporary realism. In this my goal was to utilize the techniques of sumi-e and other contemporary artists such as Helen Frankenthaler of the Color Field movement. The area around Ft George and Talbot Island are my favorite haunts for marshes and driftwood subject matter. I enjoy exploring the effects of primordial forces of time on the earth and its subjects.

When Abstract Crosses Over

I have always enjoyed doing abstracts that are crossover from realism. I suppose this isn't the official definition of an abstract, but I am working on a painting now that does that, where it seems to be somewhat abstract but is clearly what it is, a piece of driftwood on the beach. I use a combination of sumi techniques, Color Field Theory similar to what you might encounter in a Helen Frankenthaler piece. I pre mix 20 colors for this so that they are ready to go dripping and pulling the paint through the wet previous layer. The interior designer Alissa Bennett, loved two earlier pieces I had done in my formative years and had a master bedroom available, so I let her hang the early ones Aqua and Silver 1 & 2, and offered to do a new triptych set for the master based on these two.
I took my reference from Talbot Island State Park, one of my favorite haunts. It is in process so I will post again when it is finished but here it is so far. I started on Sunday, and it is now Wednesday afternoon. I am supposed to deliver this no later than Friday to a show house in south Palm Coast.
Here are some shots of the original two ("Aqua & Silver 1 &2) that inspired the Ensemble series.

New Abstract Class at Cultural Center Ponte Vedra Beach

Finally a few brave souls trying to break out into the new territory of abstraction have signed up for the "Abstracts -Simple and Fun" class at the Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach! The class starts 1pm -3pm Thursday March 3 and goes to April 14. I am looking forward to this class a it will be a chance to play with some new techniques and concepts.
Also the Watercolor classes at the Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach are on for 10am Mar 1 -April 12
JCA watercolor Classes are on for Mondays 10am-12 noon Mar 7 -April 11 and Oil classes at JCA Mondays 7pm- 9pm same days.