"Enjoying Tongue Row" a 20" X 16" fluid acrylic

Enjoying Tongue Row by April M Rimpo

Enjoying Tongue Row

Fluid Acrylic

Mounted on 20" X 16" X 2" deep

cradled wood panel
$775

Not far from my home is an old mill town called Ellicott City. The town was established by the Ellicott family, thus the name.  Tongue Row is a section of stone granite houses originally rented to mill workers by the owner Ann Tongue. Now these houses are a set of boutiques including a cafe and a silversmith.

A Farmer's Market is held by Tongue Row once a month seasonally. In addition to fresh produce, musicians serenade the event, and artisans sell their wares.

It's a lovely spot to stop and relax on the benches. 

 

#HoCoArts

Paintings for Easter and Spring

The weather here in Maryland has been colder than normal this Winter. I think that has caused me to wish for an early Spring. In the last week I've interspersed these small paintings between working on a couple of larger pieces. They make me feel better, until I step outside.  In fact I just came in from 1.5 hours of shoveling snow, so finishing up this blog post seemed urgent to get me back thinking Spring.

Have fun stacking the paintings mounted on 2" deep wood panels. 

Duck with her Ducklings by April M Rimpo
8" X 8" Fluid Acrylic on Varnished, Gallery-Wrapped Paper

Duck and her Ducklings

Fluid Acrylic on Varnished, Gallery Wrapped Paper

$85 within the United States

Available through
April's Spreesy Store

Happy Chick by April M Rimpo
6" X 6" Fluid Acrylic on Watercolor Paper
Mounted on 1.5" deep Aquabord

Happy Chick

Fluid Acrylic on Varnished, Watercolor Paper, Mounted on 6" X 6" X 1.5" deep Aquabord

$80 SOLD

Bah, Lamb, Ewe a 14" X 11" watercolor and acrylic
by April M Rimpo
mounted on 2" Deep Cradled Wood Panel

Bah, Lamb, Ewe

Fluid Acrylic on Varnished, Watercolor Paper, Mounted on 14" X 11" X 2" deep Cradled Wood Panel

SOLD at Still Life Gallery
8173 Main St, Ellicott City, Maryland

Bunny and Chick, 5" X 7" acrylic by April M Rimpo
mounted on 2" Deep Cradled Wood Panel

Bunny and Chick

Fluid Acrylic on Varnished, Watercolor Paper, Mounted on 5" X 7" X 2"  deep Cradled Wood Panel

$80

Available through
April's Spreesy Store

Keeping Watch, 14" X 18" watercolor

Keeping Watch by April M Rimpo

Keeping Watch

Watercolor

14" X 18" image

Mounted on 2" Deep Cradle Wood Panel 

$600

Options:

Keeping Watch - original $600.00 USD

There is no better sign of Spring than a duck with her ducklings. This mom is trying to keep track of her 5 ducklings, but one keeps moving slightly out of view.  There is always one independent one.

I had this painting framed under glass, which is the traditional approach to framing watercolors.  The glass protects the watercolor from the environment and the UV protection in the glass also reducing the effect of light on paints. As you know for the last year I have been gallery wrapping my watercolor and fluid acrylic paintings, then varnishing them with a UV protection varnish. This allows them to be displayed without frame and glass.  This particular painting didn't have enough paper beyond the edge of the image to allow me to gallery wrap, so I needed a different answer.

An art friend has been using Cheap Joe's Prime Cradle Painting Panels to mount her watercolor paintings. These panels come in two depths (3/4" and 2"). I opted to use the 2" Extra Deep version. I asked her for a summary of the process for mounting, watched a couple videos online to see the process in action, and decided to give it a try. I experimented on a very small painting first which came out beautifully, then decided to transition Keeping Watch. It really came out beautifully.

Profile of the 2" Deep Cradle

At right is an image showing the side of the extra deep cradle.  They come in a light blond color artist grade Tung wood. When I was researching the mounting process I also found some artists stained the wood, which I chose to do. So what you seen in this image is a Pecan color stain that I chose. After staining I waxed the panel with furniture wax and buffered it to provide a protective surface to the wood. 

And here's what William Shakespeare has to say about Spring

O, how this spring of love resembleth the uncertain glory of an April day!  The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act I, sc. 3

In the sprint time, the only pretty ring time, when birds do sing... sweet lovers love the spring.  As You Like It, Act V, sc. 3 

Living Life, 24" X 18" watercolor

Living Life by April M Rimpo

Living Life

watercolor

24" X 18"

I've been painting a lot with fluid acrylic for the last year, but when I started in on Living Life I decided to start with watercolor thinking that at some point I would switch to fluid acrylic. However it was fun to be working in watercolor for a change and I ended up doing the entire painting in watercolor. Building up his beard was the most fun, since I had never painted a beard before.

I did use some of the techniques I had tried out with fluid acrylic during the 30 day challenge, intermixed of course with lots of techniques I've learned over the years from a myriad of great watercolor artists.  Layering color to build rich dark colors was a major take-away from a workshop I took from Paul Jackson on painting glass.  Obviously no hard edged shapes here, but the richness of color you get from layering colors is always phenomenal.

I used a pretty limited palette in this painting, Daniel Smith Quinacridone Coral, Quinacridone Burnt Sienna, and French Ultramarine. A little bit of Holbien Cerulean and a small amount of Da Vinci Indigo. I love when the colors flow throughout the shapes creating a cohesive flow.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this painting.

"Country Living" 6" X 8" watercolor

Country Living by April M Rimpo

Country Living

Watercolor

6" X 8" done plein air

Framed in blond wood frame

Original SOLD

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Prints available
10" X 13 1/3" prints on watercolor paper
and
12" X 16" prints on gallery wrapped canvas
Limited Edition of 50 prints in each size

Prints Available through April's Spreesy Store