Solo Exhibit at Glenview Mansion: Modes of Transportation

A Clutter of  Kayaks by April M Rimpo

I am delighted that my solo exhibit at Glenview Mansion is almost here. It opens on August 2nd, with a reception from 1:30 - 3:30PM. The theme of my exhibit is "Modes of Transportation."  You will find paintings of cars, trains, ships, sailboats, kayaks, dugout boats, motorcycles, bicycles, tricycles, and streetcars; something for everyone. I've been fascinated with painting urban and street scenes for some time and many, but not all, of these paintings fall in that category. A Clutter of Kayaks is a serene painting of several kayakers spending the day on the water. There is also a look at the fate of a car, abandoned by its owner in a field, in More Beautiful with Age. Shipping Port and Freight Yard are two very different views at how we transport goods in and around the United States.

Shipping Port by April M Rimpo

I've become quite hooked on painting cyclists, so you'll see quite a few bicycle paintings in the exhibit. Morning Commute celebrates a group of daily cyclists who ride regardless of weather.  Movement II features a woman who rode in the bicycle race that is routed through our town twice a year.

Movement II by April M Rimpo

I admire people who ride bicycles. I've always been more than a little bit uncoordinated, to the point that, when I turn my head to look for cars, my bike drifts in the direction I look.  It's a problem I have not been able to break, so I admit I don't ride my bike anymore.  The narrow streets in the area where I live feel too dangerous given my "skills." I have, however, learned about the growth of bike trails across America that give me hope that I will be able to ride again. The American League of Bicyclists is a great organization that I have been following recently.  Maybe they will inspire me to get back on the saddle.

The paintings shown here are just a few that you will find in this exhibit. I hope to see you there. The photograph of me with my new custom Custom Candy Bar wrappers is one more reason to attend the reception.  I'll have some of these candy bars with me, so come check out the exhibit.  Someone suggested I make these for each art event I participate with different images of my art;  I thought it was an interesting idea. Let me know if you would collect them.

Hershey Bars with Custom Candy Label of April
with Freight Yard.  Wrapper from www.candywrapperstore.com 

Three other artists also have exhibits at Glenview this month.  They are: Shelley Marie "Naturally Unnatural" mixed media, Caroly Johnson "Illuminations" photography, and Kalin and Thweatt paintings and sculpture. 

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.

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.

Kayaks 18" X 24" Acrylic on Watercolor Paper

Kayaks by April M Rimpo

Kayaks

Fluid Acrylic

18"X24" gallery wrapped

$1035, includes shipping within the United States

Original size in inches:

18X24 Gallery Wrap $1,035.00 USD

Kayaks is one of those paintings that has stewed in my brain for some time. I take a lot of photographs but certain ones continue to come back to me as something I need to paint, not want to paint but NEED to paint. The problem is I don't always know right away to go about it or what exactly it is that excites me about a scene.  Initially, it was just the color of the kayaks that drew me to photograph it, because color is very seductive. 

Now, I think it was more than that. I'm also drawn to the contrast of the curves of the boats - both the kayak shape and the way they were arrayed by the dock almost like they were huddled in conversation - compared to the linear form of the dock. 

I did some editing from the photo, removing some extraneous boats from the background, altering some colors to improve the color harmony, and intensifying the color of the water in the foreground. But the heart of the painting, the colors and shapes of the kayaks were retained from the original scene.

I decided to start by creating a very loose wash of the foreground on Yupo, since the paints mix and blend in such wonderful ways on this plastic paper. Then I did a monoprint of that onto my hot press watercolor paper.  This was a new process for me inspired by the Yupo to Yupo monoprints we created in Mark Mehaffey's workshop. I thought the hot press paper, which has a smooth finish, would pick up the paint more evenly than more textural cold press paper that I normally use.  I had to spray water on the hot press surface after making the monoprint to allow me to make the paint spread more evenly across the foreground and to lighten some areas where the intensity was too extreme. Overall, this approach added some excitement to the underpainting.

I also sprayed the top half of the paper so I could let some of the paint spread over the entire surface creating some water texture in the middle of the painting and some nice muted colors in the sky.  Once dry, I transferred the drawing to the painting and continued to develop the rest of the painting with brushes. This was an exciting way of working since I had to pull out the shapes of the boats and dock from the underpainting. It was quite an interesting transformation requiring several layers of paint in some areas to get the final appearance I desired.

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 signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo Art

"A Clutter of Kayaks" a 20" X 36" varnished gallery wrapped paper

A Clutter of Kayaks by April M Rimpo

While out painting one afternoon I watched a pair of men unload kayaks from their vehicles and place them along the edge of the estuary. There were a dozen kayaks by the time they were done, then gradually more people began to arrive. They all dressed in life vests, got into the kayaks, and headed out for what appeared to be a lesson. I don't know how long they stayed out on the water because they had not returned before I finished painting for the day. It was clear they were all having a great time.

These kind of moments, when people are out enjoying their environment, always speak to me.  After selecting sections from a variety of my photos from that day, I composed this painting, included some of the sailboats in the distance that were also on the water.  Then I decided on a color scheme I felt would feature the kayaks while also making them at home in their surroundings. 

A Clutter of Kayaks

20" X 36" fluid acrylic on

Gallery Wrapped and Varnished Paper

$1730

Using a lot of gray to emphasize the stillness of the water also helped communicate the distance between the kayaks and the bridge.  This was an unexpected result, but one that might be helpful to me in future paintings.  

This painting is done in fluid acrylic on watercolor paper, then gallery wrapped around a 1.75" stretcher, and varnished to provide UV protection and to seal the paper from its surroundings.  Because the paint wraps around the edge of the stretcher bars it can be hung without a frame, if desired.