"Missing You", 20" X 26" watercolor and fluid acrylic

Missing You 20" X 26" watercolor and fluid acrylic

Missing You

acrylic and watercolor

20" X 26" image, matted in brushed silver frame

$950

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE HERE

Giclee prints also available 

Me photographing the Source Material

My inspiration for Missing You started in Charleston, NC.  My husband and I were walking back from the waterfront to our hotel when I saw this bicycle chained to a tree at roadside.  Weeds, grass and other plants had grown up through the sprockets of the wheels and woven through the bike indicating its disuse.  Not knowing the story of why the bicycle was in such a state intrigued me.  I wanted to relay the unknown story to others so they could add their story to the painting.  Had the owner just been too busy to ride?  Were they sick and unable to ride?  Had they gone off to college and the bike was left behind while the owner moved onto other things in his/her life?  It didn’t matter what the story was, I just felt it needed to be shared; so others could bring their own story to the scene.

I started to play with the image to emphasize the story.  A few extra vines were added or moved to make it more obvious that they wove through the wheels and bicycle supports.  Cars and signs in the photograph were removed to avoid these distractions; to me these were unwanted noise that would hinder the story.

I liked the red color of the bike (I think my brother had a red Schwinn when we were growing up), so when I started to explore color options the red had to stay.  I went to my favorite color scheme site, http://colorschemedesigner.com/ , where I decided to use an accented analog color scheme based around red.   As I worked through the painting I found I needed to include some Prussian Blue to get the deep greens and browns I wanted.  A few additional blues found their way into the scene as interesting cooler counterpoints.  

I'd love to hear what you think the story may have been behind this lonely bike.

To see my other work where I combine fluid acrylic and watercolor check this blog post

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.

"Morning in NYC" 23.5" X 16" watercolor

Morning in NYC

Morning in NYC

watercolor

23.5" X 16" image

31" X 23" brushed silver frame

$1700

My husband and I typically travel to NYC at least once a year to take in some shows on Broadway, visit some art museums, or visit historic sites.  This painting was inspired during a trip with our son, during which we visited the Empire State Building.  The views from the Empire State Building are magnificent. We had gone early in the day so morning light played across the city.  I took quite a few photographs, as I am inclined to do. I am always composing paintings in my view finder so I take several photographs with slightly different zoom or perspectives of the same place.  After the trip this view of the New Yorker Building kept speaking to me. At the time of the trip I wasn't technically ready to take on this scene, but after a few more years of working with watercolor I finally decided to take rise to the challenge. 

I started by doing a drawing on tracing paper, figuring the first time out might not work. I also knew getting the architectural angles right was critical and that some erasing would be involved.  Drawing on tracing paper meant all that erasing would not mar my watercolor paper. Once the drawing was complete I transfered the drawing to the watercolor paper and off I went. Much to my delight the painting came out just as I wanted it, so I didn't have to paint multiple versions.

I submitted this painting to the National Watercolor Society (NWS) International exhibit and was delighted that Morning in NYC was accepted.  I was so surprised since NWS receives nearly 1000 entries for this exhibit each year.  I was one of 93 artists accepted into this prestigious show.  Two others in this exhibit are artists I admire from whom I have taken workshops: Chen-khee Chee was one of the first few artists I took a workshop from and Nicholas Simmons introduced me to fluid acrylic and a new way of looking at my work. Both workshops were invaluable to me.  To be in a show with them was a delight.

Exhibition update: in 2014, Morning in NYC traveled to Houston to be included in the Watercolor Art Society -Houston.  There it was exhibited with a many wonderful paintings.  The first place winner was a painting by John Salminen, another artist from whom I have taken a workshop.   After returning home, I decided to enter it in the Maryland Federation of Art's National exhibition American Landscapes, which resulted in a trip to Annapolis, Maryland to exhibit in that show.

I haven't felt this much satisfaction in something I have done in a very long time; my decision to refocus on art has been validated.   Thanks to all of you who have encouraged me and sent me feedback.  It is much appreciated.  Now I've got to try to get my feet back on the ground so I can finish the painting I'm currently working on.

Click here to see available prints

"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