Peaceful Simplicity

Psalm 16: 7-8

I will bless the LORD who has counseled me;
Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
I have set the LORD continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Days Gone By
© 2003 Karen Mathison Schmidt
9 x 12.75 • watercolor on paper

Whoa! Thursday already? This week has gone by in a blur, but rest assured I haven't been neglecting my painting - I've been working on the Paris and Milan portrait some (almost finished!) but instead of posting another progress photo right now, I'm sharing an older piece that I love. This is from my foray into watercolors a few years back: an old house out in an overgrown pasture not too far from the house we're preparing to move into. This house was on the verge of collapse (in fact, it's probably not even standing any more!) and I was intrigued by this point of view, standing directly in front of one window and looking straight through the house and out the window on the wall directly opposite. Standing right there in that spot I could imagine that the house was two-dimensional.

I love the spontaneity of watercolor, although I find it a little disconcerting - but exciting, too, all at the same time. Kind of hard to describe the feeling. I was really just beginning my exploration of the medium at the time I painted this (aside from the watercolors we did as kids), and this piece is full of happy accidents. I remember in particular the way the sky came about: I had planned for it to be a clear blue sky; I wanted to do a wash of cobalt blue at the top merging into a light turquoise toward the horizon, but I applied it a little too heavily and it was way too wet, so I tried blotting it with a handful of cotton, and that's when the clouds happened. It was so cool - I love it when stuff like that happens!