PineShoreStudio/Paintings by Helen Harris

Laying out a new palette of colors...the West is so different from what I'm used to in the East. Did I mention the colors in between of the Mid West?   The last 15 days of my life have been driving through out this beautiful country, 7000 miles to and from. Until now most of my life has been along the Eastern Atlantic seacoast. Blues and varied greens, deep tones of purples have been the hues of my life. I reached the Pacific coast. Drought has dried the mighty rivers and turned the green tinged, rocky wilderness to tones of yellowed brown suedes. Silvery /violet sage brush withstand the harsh, unrelenting sun. Smoke from over 200 fires blanketed the ridges. Astonished by the vast grazing pastures and ever-present cornfields interrupted by farms of wind turbines, the images are starting to take form in my first sketches in pen & watercolor...paintings sure to follow. Will this be my theme for my upcoming Spring show in 2016? Time will tell. Can I connect the dots of my life l...

I have been approached time and again about teaching painting /drawing. As my last post stated, I've been doing demonstrations and workshops for some time now. Teaching a large group has it's own dynamics. I guess it was a natural progression for the one on one teaching to begin. So while painting this past week ,my thoughts have turned to breaking down the different steps that I take when I begin a drawing and painting. What a surprise! The fundementals have been absorbed so long in my head that I did find it difficult to separate the basic steps into a coherent approach. I found that rethinking each element helped clarify the current painting that I was developing. The teacher becomes the student...and the cycle comes 'round again.

I've been on a tear painting to get ready for two shows, and a new gallery. I need some down time. So I've been outside doing some gardening to relax. This is also the time that I take to go back to basics.....I sketch. I do not paint what I draw ...and I do not draw what I paint. Each contributes to my overall knowledge that I must have at my finger tips at the moment the paint flows on to the page. Sketching is my summer school of observation. It sharpens my skills so I can improvise in paint later based on a foundation of solid drawing........back to the drawing board!