"Struggles in the Sourthwest", 24" X 34" gallery wrapped fluid acrylic on paper

Struggles in the Southwest by April M. Rimpo

You may remember my June blog post called Pouring Paint, about a workshop I had taken from Linda Baker.  During that workshop I painted Harder Times which was a close up of one grave in Mission Tumacácori.  I designed Struggles in the Southwest earlier but decided it was too much to tackle in a workshop and went with the simpler version. I visited Mission Tumacácori sometime in the 1980s as part of my explorations of Arizona. After moving to Arizona in 1980, my husband and I continued to explore many National sites with Indian ruins during our 17 years in the state.  One of my interests, in fact my initial major in college, was archaeology, so visiting these sites allowed me to catch a glimpse of the past.  To learn more about this Mission visit the National Park Service site.

Like Harder Times this painting was poured, but with fluid acrylic instead of watercolor. Below are a few images showing steps in creating this painting.

Value Sketch

I generally start each painting with a drawing of the outlines of the shapes in the painting, but this one was complex enough that I decided to do a value sketch. The purpose of a value sketch is to work out the darks, mid-value, and lights in the painting. I admit I went beyond a value sketch and toward a much more complete drawing. However this was done on tracing paper to allow me to more easily transfer the drawing to watercolor paper.

The image at right shows the result of the first pouring of acrylic paint.  The acrylic was poured after I transferred the drawing, then masked areas I wanted to keep white. The first pouring uses the lightest colors in the painting, filling the role of the lightest mid-tone.  To accomplish this with acrylic, the pigments are very diluted with water.



When the first layer dries, more masking fluid is added to some areas where I want the lightest mid-tone.  A second pouring is done that has nearly the same amount of water mixed with the paint. Since it is on top of the first layer of color, it looks darker.  I added more blues to the second pour allowing them to mix with the Quinacridone Coral pigment to create lovely lavender shades in areas where there are shadows.

In this third process photograph I have added a few darker areas and, when the paint dried, I removed the masking.  

Notice the golden tan stripe along the left edge.  After I gallery wrap the painting over a stretcher frame, the stripe will be on the edge of the painting. Sometimes I run the image around the edge and sometimes I use color stripes.

    

This last photo was taken after several touch-up sessions. A variety of dark colors is added in the darkest shadows under the rocks and more color to the crosses. A great deal of work was done on the rocks to blend some of the dark edges and to emphasize the twigs and grasses in the sand around the stones.

There was a small amount of additional touch-up to finish the painting after this image was taken.  The finished painting in the top image shows just the front of the painting after gallery wrapping. 

Building Perspectives Exhibit at Howard County Art Council's Gallery I

It's been a long time coming, but Building Perspectives, an exhibit at Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) is finally here.  There is a multi-step inclusion process for either a solo exhibit or small group exhibit.  Here is my example.

In September 2012 I applied for a small group show at HCAC.  In the Spring of 2013 I found that I would be one of five artists included in a show that features buildings and architectural details.  Four of the ten images included in my proposal were selected for the 2014 show. 

Now that I knew the theme for the show, I painted several other watercolors appropriate for the exhibit. In July, I submitted images of those paintings to the selection committee.  They selected six paintings for the show.

The postcard shows small glimpses of one piece of art from each artist in the Building Perspectives exhibit.  I am so anxious to see our show when it opens on September 5th. I hope you can join us to see the artwork, enjoy music, light food, and refreshments at the reception on September 12th from 6 - 8 pm. 

Here are links to my paintings included in this exhibit.

• Tenement
• Fire Escape
• City Reflections I
• City Reflections II
• Intersections
• Streetcar

Contact April here

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Rimpo 2016 All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Arriving at Kensington, 24" X 34" fluid acrylic

Arriving at Kensington by April M Rimpo

Arriving at Kensington

Fluid Acrylic
24' X 34" varnished and brushed silver frame
Original SOLD

Prints Available to purchase at HorseSpirit Arts Gallery

info@horsespiritartsgallery.com 

410-461-3505 

 

Arriving at Kensington I walked around Kensington getting to know the town, including the antique shop district and the lovely tea room, but the train station was the spot that struck me as something I wanted to paint.  I'm sure the station has been painting hundreds if not thousands of times, but I had to take my stab at it too.  I was quite happy with the result and hope you are too. 

Here are links to several of my other landscape paintings.

• Flores
• Pigeons I
• Making a Difference
• Ponte Vecchio
• The Conservatory
• Vineyard Life
• The Beach

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Breakfast for Two", 36" X 24" fluid acrylic and watercolor

Breakfast for Two by April M Rimpo

Can you tell I like color?  There is something about orange, blue and purple that just makes a painting sing to me. Complementary colors, you've got to love them.

Breakfast for Two also has a nice balance between curves and the linear pattern of the tiles on the wall. I wish I could say that all of this was intentional design, but in reality it is what I saw one morning while have breakfast with my husband at a restaurant with outside seating. Now I know I was drawn to the scene because of the complementary colors, but I don't think the  balance between line and curve struck me until much later. 

That doesn't mean I didn't make some variations from my original photos.  I combined bird shots, substituted the restaurant plates for one of my own plates, altered the color of the crumpled napkin to continue the colors from the birds, and changed the leftover food on the back plate from what might have been leftover scrambled eggs to waffles.  Wouldn't any self-respecting bird prefer waffles?

Breakfast for Two

Fluid Acrylic and Watercolor

36" X 24" varnished in brushed silver frame

$1950 includes shipping within the United States

Available NOW for Purchase Click Here

Of course those of you who follow my work also know I am drawn to pigeons.  They may be a nuisance, but you have to admit they are one of the more colorful birds in the United States.  Capturing all the variation of blues, purples, lavenders, and sometimes teal blue/green is just plain fun to me.

To see more pigeon paintings you might want to start at my post "Pigeons: Evolution of a Series."

Country Tour - more bikes

Country Tour, 20" X 36" varnished acrylic on paper, varnished

Country Tour

fluid acrylic

20" X 26" image

$1730 shipped within the United States*

Available to purchase here

Every year there is a bike race that is routed through our town.  Many years I had errands to run on the day of the race and was unable to get photographs of the racers.  This year I put the race on my calendar so I could be sure I'd have time to get some new reference material.  I took countless photographs that day; I believe I watched the race from the arrival of the earliest riders to the last to make it through town.  I combined three of my photographs to develop this design and took liberties with the colors of the buildings but believe I stayed true to the spirit of the day.

The riders were the inspiration, but including the police who helped direct traffic and the volunteer with the flag who helped direct the riders through the turn were important elements of the occasion.  

You can see some of April's other bike paintings by following the links below:

• Aerial Bikes II - (SOLD)
• Bike Ride
• Bike Trip I and II
• Bicycle Series
• Missing You

You can see more "Traffic Jam" paintings at these links:

• Traffic Jam at the Concert - Concert goes waiting on the ticket takers
• Rush Hour - Enjoy the view when trying to get home
• Traffic Jam III - Cyclists backed up at a crossing
• Full to the Limit - An overloaded canal
• Thoroughfare - Amsterdam: More bikes and trikes than you can believe
• Traffic Jam II - No spot at the port for the incoming boat
• Traffic Jam - Sometimes it doesn't take much  (SOLD)
• Trapped - Traffic congestion in a tunnel

* For purchase outside the United States, contact April regarding shipping costs

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

A Pop-up Exhibit

So "pop-up exhibit" is probably not an official term, but when thinking about the exhibit I was juried into today I felt like I had just experienced one.  I guess it is because I've been hearing about pop-up businesses that open quickly in a temporary location, intentionally operate for a short time and then close.  Having just announced a reception one week before the event, I thought well here I go again.  However, this time I truly didn't know I was going to be in the exhibit until one week before the reception.

Messengers by April M Rimpo

Now this is not a new thing in the art world, an organization decides to have people deliver art to their gallery for an exhibit, the pieces are juried, then the artists are notified whether they got into the show or if they have to return to pickup their art because it was not accepted.  When I've participated in these exhibits before, the time between dropping off and picking up unaccepted work was several days.  Today I dropped off my painting just before noon and by 4:30 I knew my painting had been accepted.  The quickness of the process made me think of "pop-up".  I admire how organized this group is to be able to collect a large amount of work in a short time and decide the results so quickly. Congratulations to the talent of their jurors.

The organization holding this exhibit is Artists' Gallery of Columbia.  It is a cooperative gallery that once a year, for the last seven years, invites people who are not members to submit art for an exhibit called "Local Color".   The reception will be on Friday, August 8th from 6 - 8 pm, in the American City Building, 10227 Wincopin Circle, Columbia, Maryland 21044. 

I submitted my watercolor "Messengers",  This painting traveled to Louisiana earlier this year for the Louisiana Watercolor Society for their Annual International Exhibition, but I believe this is the first time this piece will be shown locally.  I'm look forward to sharing it with local friends.  

You can read more about Messengers here.