PineShoreStudio/Paintings by Helen Harris

#work in progress 12"H x 24,oils on canvas by H.Harris I'm late this morning in writing this blog. My most recent painting was just too tantalizing to leave on the easel untouched in the early morning hours. A fragment of color here & there, the wispiness in a cloud  ... it was just too tempting and the blog could wait. If you've been following my journey in my past blogs, this brings me to the fourth stage of my painting progression into other mediums... oils.  I had resisted oils for many years. I always found a reason not to use them . They were toxic, messy and took too long to dry. I'm a prolific painter and had always had a full schedule of art shows to prepare in short time frames. Oils were just too needy....but then as before, it happened ...what if?  I experienced 3 separate incidents that were gifts that changed everything about my work. First , an impromptu  visit to a tiny gallery/studio in Lambertville, NJ where I caught a glimpse o...

Acrylic ...that was my next  adventure. After years of establishing a following of watercolor  and mixed media I decided to take off after an idea that I had been kicking around. That "what if " question that lurks behind the " I'm bored" thought, took hold and for the next two years (remember my learning curve) I explored this medium. At first I struggled with the properties inherent to the paint. Unlike watercolor that used water as a vehicle to spread color, acrylic just stayed where I put it. No exciting explosions of colors mixing...  I had to create that .  No accidental forms that pushed my imagination... I had to create that.  WAIT...just why am I torturing myself? Is it worth starting all over again? ...but what if? So it began. Once I set aside my expectations of painting as I had before, I gave my self permission to play. I got paint on my hands, mixing globs of paint just to see how it reacted, smearing it on canvas,papers and panel...

 The  key to my progress and success as a working artist lies in my constant experimentation. A fear of marketing my work had to be put aside in order to grow. I never lose sight of my collectors' desires yet I do not let others dictate my work. I am motivated by a sense of discovery, a questioning of what is known and study of those who have come before me and found answers. It is important to note that with each deliberate change of medium I was able to build on past skills, not abandoning what came before. Watercolor progressed into Mixed Media, as I stated in my last blog, because of my need to find a way to better express the form of a rock. A humbling moment when my skills were not able to satisfy what in my mind's eye was needed to elevate my work to the next step . I struggled. Two years later I found my way. I gave myself permission to "fail" to stumble, and to simply play. I reached a point that I was creatively satisfied in the joy of puzzling togethe...

In last week's post I said that I would speak about my thoughts on how and why I've progressed through 4 different mediums during  my art career. Each stage was a deliberate not arbitrary change. My path changed because there came a pivotal moment when I chose to follow a different direction.  Today we will begin with my work in Watercolor. I was surprised, while looking back through my photos of my earlier work that I found very few examples of purely watercolor paintings. Those that I did find were quite revealing!  I think that my first attempts definitely pointed out the simple fact that this was not to be my forever medium. Yes, they all sold, and yes, they were of professional quality but I could see that I was using it as a way to explore my skills. Let's be clear... watercolor is not for the faint hearted!   It will quickly inform you of your strengths and weaknesses in your studies. It will frustrate you into acknowledging that your need to...