"Basket Maker", 27.5" X 20.5" fluid acrylic and watercolor

Basket Maker, 27.5" X 20.5", by April M. Rimpo

Basket Maker is a little special for me.  One reason this is so special is because this man was wearing traditional Guatemalan clothing that unfortunately not many of the men wear.  Many years of revolution in Guatemala have caused the men to migrate from traditional clothing to wearing clothes more like ours.  I assume this transition was to avoid damage to the clothing, but most men in Central Guatemala have not returned to wearing their traditional garments.  The women continue to wear the clothing of their clan, but not the men.  It was with pleasure that I could share this tradition. 

When I travel I take thousands of photographs of the area.  In fact I am so focused on the beauty of the area that I take few pictures of the people I am traveling with; something that I regret in hindsight.  I photographed the man making the basket but, like many of my painting source photos, I had no idea how to paint this subject at the time.  It was 4 years after taking the photo that I finally felt I had the skills I needed to accomplish the vision in my head.  I knew I wanted to keep him in front of the stone wall, but had to do some shifting and rearranging to make a better design.   The basket maker was in the shadow of the building so I also had to brighten the scene a little and reduce the shadow on his face.

Basket Maker

fluid acrylic and watercolor

27.5" X 20.5" image, matted in brushed silver frame

This painting is another in which I used a combination of fluid acrylic and watercolor.  Fluid acrylic was used first to create some textures in the background, especially in the rocks and door.  Once the acrylic was dry and not going to move, I used watercolor to create the blends of color in the rocks allowing the watercolor to flow and mix on the paper, something you just can't do with other media. I've included a couple photographs of the painting in progress for those interested in the techniques.

     

To see other work done by combining fluid acrylic and watercolor check this blog post

"City Reflections I", 14" X 40" watercolor

City Reflections, 14" X 40" image, watercolor

My city paintings are frequently about pattern and color.  Like many artists, I am drawn to the reflections in city windows.  This building had sixteen panes reflecting back surrounding buildings.  Since I wanted the details of the patterns to be more visible I cropped down to the four panes shown here.  Distortions in the windows cause the reflections to look more like a Picasso painting where the buildings are melting instead of a picture perfect image of the surrounds.  To me the distortions were the charm I wanted to emphasize.  Having the straight vertical window muntin bars that hold the panes in place seems to emphasize the fluid, melting reflections.  If you squint at the painting, which helps emphasize value rather than color, I used the darker values as pathways to connect one part of the buildings to another. Quiet blue sky reflections provide occasional relief to the jumble of the reflections.

Taking a Break

I used a triad color scheme focused on orange as the primary, blue the secondary with hints of greens.  Including the light pole surrounded by flowers that was in front of the building allowed me to add in a few touches of green.   I have found this triad very dynamic in other paintings I have done.  Taking a Break, shown at right, is the same color plan but with slightly redder oranges.

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June 19, 2012 - Delivery Day

Today was the day to deliver my art to Agora Gallery in NYC.  Chas and I packed up the car last night.  Definitely would have been a problem if there had been more than 6 paintings.  I continue to paint large, despite advice from friends.  We'd tested the empty boxes a week ago to make sure they would fit in the Highlander and as you can see the boxes filled the back.  After getting the paintings packed in the car last night we had fun with bungie cords trying to figure out how to secure them in case of a quick stop.  No visibility out the back window on this trip.  We'll be adjusting those side mirrors!  (FYI - Nothing moved during the trip, so I guess we did okay.)

Highlander Packed to the Brim

Paintings unloaded from car

Fortunately, Agora was prepared for deliveries all this week, so they had cones in front of the gallery that we moved to park.  Yeah!  No double parking in NYC.  


We unloaded the car as fast as we could then Chas drove the car down to the parking garage just down W 25th Street, within eyeshot of Agora.


We took the paintings up the elevator to the 2nd floor and dropped them off.  Lots of driving for about 10 minutes of delivery time.  






We did take some time viewing the current exhibit at Agora before heading off to Joe's The Art of Coffee on W 23rd Street.  We'd been there on a previous visit to New York and we knew it would satisfy our finicky coffee habit.  Chas is still spoiling me with high quality home roasted coffee beans, but Joe's coffee was almost as good as what we have at home.

Parking Just Down from Agora

High Line Elevated Park

From Joe's we went to New York Burger Company for burgers and a rich chocolate milk shakes.  What decadence for 2 people who have been dieting for longer than we'd like to admit.


On our next trip we'll need to check out the High Line Elevated Park that runs parallel to 10th Avenue, right near Agora Gallery.  There is also Chelsea Garden, which is a couple blocks over by West 28th Avenue.  I suspect the hotel where we'll be staying for the reception on July 12th is right next to Chelsea Park.  

Holland Tunnel  - Bye New York

Including our time in NYC our round trip took 9.5 hours.  


Check out April's art available through Agora Gallery at http://www.art-mine.com/artistpage/april_rimpo.aspx