Courtesy of Ronnie Klukas - Upside Down Reflection
It was a beautiful gathering at Gay City State Park in Hebron, CT. on Tuesday, Aug. 21. We have been under lots of rainy skies to break this tropical pattern, but Tuesday went in between the rainy days. The park has some wonderful features such as old mill ruins if you take the right trail. It is primarily a nice place to swim in the summer or have an easy, relaxing picnic under the shady trees. It is a great family place.
We had quite a group this week. Everyone was in good humor, and all of us enjoyed the camaraderie. The promise of shade and water lapping on the shore from gentle breezes brought 9 artists out to the park. The crew this week was Adrianna, Susan, Bonnie, Paul, Kathy, Peggy, Georgiana, Ronnie and June. Watercolor seemed to be the preferred medium on this day and seemed the perfect compliment to our water views.
We all congregated around the picnic tables close to the water. The trees canopied us in safety and comfort, and the sounds of frogs and fish plopping the surface of the water gave us natures music. The hammering of a pileated wood.pecker came from the opposite shore, and we even were treated to hummingbirds drinking from cardinal flowers near the water, and lazy dragonflies hovering over the water and resting on tall grasses.
Kathy worked on two different paintings. There were two islands in the pond, and she chose that for her first subject. Then her next subject was a quick study of one of those lovely big trees watching over our group. Watercolors were her choice for the paintings. It was Kathy’s first plein air for a few weeks, because she has been in Ireland having fun on a bus tour. We missed her at our gatherings and are glad she is back amongst us.
Susan and Georgiana brought a collection of pens and pencils to do some sketches of the pond and treeline, and June also did a sketch/drawing with oil pastels. As to the oil pastels, June tried a pointillism technique and used canvas paper as her surface. Oil pastels are versatile and can be used on many surfaces, including stretched canvas, wood and mat board. The pointillism creates an even stronger sense of expressionism, and Ronnie's comment was that it was full of energy.
Adrianna chose watercolors for her medium. She used low tack tape all around the edge of the paper, and attaches it to a palette. She also chose the island out in the middle of the pond.
A technique Georgiana shared is once you tape the paper, you dip the entire set up into water. Then you let it drain and the tape prevents the paper from rippling. After that, for an easy background you apply drops of paint and move the palette up and down and side to side to spread the paint across the paper. Once the paper is completely covered, let dry and then you can apply your subject to the delightful background. Probably works best with still lives and florals, when you look for a nice soft background to enhance the flowers.
Ronnie demonstrated her favorite technique of Elegant Writer calligraphy pens and water. After sketching her outlines, she then uses a regular watercolor brush with water, to drag the outlines. If done right, you will see many different shades. Ronnie intends to also use watercolor paints on the painting to further add interest to a very interesting technique. She also did a "Monet-ish" watercolor of the opposite shore. The abstract layered pen and watercolor shows a nice looseness and the yellow makes me feel the summery nature of our day at Gay City. Ronnie called it Monet-ish, but when I see it, I think more of a Japanese brushworked piece.
Courtesy of Ronnie Klukas
Peggy did some drawing with colored pencils and Bonnie used watercolor paints. Both chose landscapes, as did most of us. Not a big fan of plein air, it is great Peggy is joining us more often. She says she never likes the way her plein air pieces come out, but she is improving daily by staying with it.
One of the most interesting uses of materials was by Paul. He began by using charcoal and graphite pencil on a stretched canvas. Using charcoal on canvas may or may not create a permanent base, but he did add acrylic paints to the sketch after, and it came out pretty fine. Thanks Paul for a new idea to try. Our experimentation continues with new techniques and different ways to use common and various art tools. The energy generated by the creative use of unexpected combinations keeps all of us excited and coming back to try some of them.
We pretty much packed up around 12:15, and the relaxing morning left us tranquil and peaceful as we left very slowly from our busy morning of art and conversation.
GALLERY
Courtesy of Ronnie Klukas
June and Georgiana, Courtesy of Ronnie Klukas
Our next day out will be Tuesday, August 28 at Fair Winds Farm, 296 Mile Hill Rd., Tolland, CT. from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
All photos courtesy of June Mita, unless otherwise noted.
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