Flamingos 4

"Through the Shoals" watercolor, 11 x 28" © Beatrice Bork

At this point of the painting I am very close to being finished, I will put this on an easel and continue to look at it for awhile, to see what else might be needed to be done in order to for me to feel it is complete.

The title has been something I have been pondering since I began the project, every painting is personal and I like to title them accordingly. After considering several options, "Through the Shoals" seemed to be the title most reflective of my thoughts. It not only portrays the birds feeding through the shallows, but also my journey through these last several months of breast cancer treatments.

The last "tanning" session

"Buttons in the Studio"  BBork

As some of you who read my blog know, I've been undergoing treatment for breast cancer. I am happy to report that today is my last day of radiation (a.k.a. "tanning"). Whew! This all started last July 2012— chemo, surgery and after today radiation will be done. It's been a long road, and I've been lucky that things have gone as planned all along. I've had a great support system, family and friends have really been there for me, and I've met and been treated by the kindest, caring people! I also want to acknowledge my little rescue pup, I adopted him about a month this all started, and he's kept a smile on my face all through this as well.

I am feeling very excited about my art and look forward to presenting the flamingos, which I hope to post next Friday.

Forward
:)

Artsbridge in May

Detail of "Little Prince" © Beatrice Bork

I'm pleased to announce that I've been asked to be a speaker for the "Distingueshed Artists Series" at the May 16th Artsbridge meeting, at Prallsville Mills, Stockton, NJ at 7:00 pm.  It is a wonderful artist community that promotes the arts, artists, events, and more.

I plan on having a discussion about medium, inspiration and process, and may also briefly explore how life can throw you a curve-ball and how it does or does not effect the creative process. I'll bring some paintings and present images to aid in discussion.

Framing, Focus on the Art

Many people have made some nice comments about my framing, so I thought I would write a short blog about it.

I personally feel that a frame is an extension of a painting, the finishing touch, if you will, so I make an effort to get the right one for the piece—after all I have taken a lot of time to create the painting. My goal is to showcase the work in a way that supports the look and feel of the piece and doesn't distract the viewer from the focus, which is the art. I use archival mats as well as UV protective glass as a final touch to the quality of the overall work.

Each artist has their own way of presenting work, and each medium has different requirements for presentation, some art doesn't need a frame at all. If you have any questions about the art, medium or framing when viewing a piece, feel free to ask the artist or a representative.

Flamingos. 5

Painting in progress, on the "drawing board" with my resource photos. © Beatrice Bork 2013

Flamingos, inception...

The Flamingos painting is coming along well, a few distractions this week made it a little slower, so I thought I'd go back to its very beginning, its inception if you will.  I will continue with the progress of the painting next week.

I found one of the very first scribbles for the idea of the Flamingo piece that I'm currently working on. This is how many ideas are "captured", a sighting or a thought is scribbled onto the very first piece of paper I can find and then it "gels" in my mind until I'm ready to formulate it into a real painting. Sometimes I refer back to the sketch, sometimes not. I probably have hundreds of these sketches laying around, some become paintings, some become inspirations for something else, and some never get further than the initial "light bulb" moment.

Initial idea/sketch, on scrap notebook paper, Sept. 2012.  As you can see I was thinking about the number of  birds to include in the piece.  © Beatrice Bork

Flamingos. 4

The painting is progressing well. I layered the whole piece with some subtle color to give me a starting point, letting me know me where everything is (the pencil outlines can be confusing if the piece is very complicated)—from there, I started building section by section.  When working with watercolor it is important to have everything planned and placed well before starting, because it is very difficult (if not impossible) to change your mind once the piece is begun.

Below is a section of the right side of the piece that I've built up. I will keep layering the rest of the piece to this level, then continue to work on it more as a whole until I'm satisfied. (Each piece is different and the process is dictated by its composition, image etc.)

Process of Flamingos watercolor painting © Beatrice Bork 2013