Sunday, July 12, 2009

No direction But Beauty

Today's 'Writer's Almanac' listed among the day's birthdays Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda and Thoreau. I love their writings. When I was photographing this painting this morning, that bit of information I had read earlier triggered the memory of a poem 'Water' by Nerudo. Below are the last few lines from it :

Water is different,
has no direction but beauty,
runs through all dreams of color,
Takes bright lessons
from the rock
and in those occupations work out
the unbroken duties of the foam.

I painted "Golden Beach" (watercolor, 9x12") on Fredrix pre-stretched watercolor canvas. I ordered the canvas from Cheap Joe's. It is a 100% cotton artist canvas already coated with gesso for water-based paints. I found it a bit difficult to work on that surface even though or may be because it was very easy to take the paint off. I tried the canvas to see if I could get away from framing expenses but I think the painting still needs to be sealed since I found the watercolor paints on it comes off too easily when it is not sealed or under glass. I have not tried any spray sealants yet as I don't feel confident about spraying it evenly without any pooling or dripping since that would defeat the purpose! So, it is waiting to be resolved and I welcome any advice or suggestions :)

6 comments:

Tina said...

I cannot advise on anything regarding watercolor, but I will say I enlarged your image and was pleased to see how wonderfully you do palms. I grew up on the coast and miss it terribly. You were very clever in your technique, very nice, Meera.

Meera Rao said...

Thank you very much, Tina. I come from a coastal city in India and I miss the palm trees terribly too. So, I do go back there in my art and paint them every so often :)

abhishek singh said...

i love ur inhibited sense to paint , my favorites are gift of vision , n golden spiral ,
i see this one comes with a little nostalgia,

n thankx for dropping by ,
keep the expression goin!

Meera Rao said...

Thank you Abhishek! you could say it comes with a lot nostalgia :)

Kathy Staicer said...

Meera, I have tried Fredrix watercolor cnavas before and did not have a good experience. I'm sure there are some tricks that I'm not aware of for getting a more positive response. Your painting is lovely.

Meera Rao said...

Much Thanks Kathy! Its good to know that I am not the only one - but someone else had trouble with it too.

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