Manarola Cinqueterre

Bibbi Isaksson's Manarola "collage"

In last week's aquarellista session we actually all worked on the same subject - a pretty Italian-looking village, with very brightly coloured houses, on a cliff. We didn't know where is was as we worked from a picture that came from a presentation... But we all had our suggestions of what it would be: I thought it might be Elba, Cathie suggested Portofino " Cinque terre maybe and Bibbi thought it might be Riomaggiore in Cinque terre... After our painting session the detective work on google started and it turned out that it was the lovely village of Manarola in Cinqueterre... Bibbi as well as Cathie found it... and it is as colorful as the picture... Anyway... Most of us didn't finish the project yet. That is because a painting like this (with perspective, many different colors, light, shadow and contrast) requires a lot of work!! This was the picture we used as inspiration:

And here are the first brushstrokes (bad pictures taken with my phone, sorry) They are actually quite good! Looking back I am happily surprised, also to see those different styles and impressions!

As a very experienced house - and village painter I would like to mention here that an aquarelle of a subject like this needs patience and perseverance, in other words: work!

It often starts quite boring and will get its rhythm and volume and beauty only after you have put in all those shadows and (suggestions of ) windows, roofs, plants and other details...

 So if you are not happy with your half-finished village, don't tear it up yet! Be patient, persist and finish it! It may become one of your nicest paintings...

Flowers & Faces

While some of us were having permanence in the "Poetic Portraits" exhibition in Casablù in Valbonne, the other aquarellista's had their regular Tuesday meeting in the Hangar! We just did what we felt like, no theme, and this is what we came up with... not bad eh?!

Flowers by Ann Edwards, note the fabulous combination of ochre tones and Payne's grey

Tulips by AnnaKarin Fast, aren't they a bunch of happy flowers! Very subtle composition too...

Very interesting work of Sandra SeymourDale. Everyone present had their own thoughts about this, varying from flowers, to footsteps. It is by the way inspired on microscopic potato cells (or so... help me out here Sandra! To me it is an origin, a cosmic soup from which a life form appears... Very explosive and fascinating!

And then there was Bibbi, she let the brush do the work and this is what happened! Fantasy, combined with recognizable shapes in the usual great Bibbi tones!

And Bibbi also started a new painting, it has already progressed much further than this but I didn't take a picture. Another face full of expression...guess what she is thinking... More about that in next post

Above three stages of "Cathies evil twin sister" as we called it. Very well done, and you can clearly see that "contrast" works. And that Cathie van der Stel deserves a career in fashion painting! I would be very interested to see more of these characters...

And then one more by Sandra Seymour Dale, another monumental and moving picture. The grey masking fluid is still there, much will change when she removes that and the strong white will appear! Exciting...

That's us, working in the Hangar:

Poetic Portraits exhibition

The Poetic Portraits exhibition of the Marina Artist Team in Casablù in the heart of Valbonne is still on and will last until Friday 12 February PM. Don't miss your chance to check out their great aquarelles!

Cathie van der Stel amidst her paintings

The show opened with a very well visited vernissage! We made a lot of new friends, did good business and received so many compliments! Rest assured we'll stay modest and realistic as aquarellista's go - but the fact that aquarelles can get these positive comments, even from non-connaisseurs, did us good!

So here's a proud picture of us with one of our youngest models (see the portrait below)...

Portrait of Ines by Marina Teding van Berkhout

EXHIBITION Marina Artist Team

PRESS RELEASE

Casablù, Modern Art gallery in Valbonne exhibits the poetic watercolours of the “Marina Artist Team”. From Saturday 6 - Friday 12 February

The Marina Artist Team: three artists, who work together on commissions for portraits of people, animals and houses or views. Working as a team makes them more efficient, using each others’ strong points, feedback and inspiration. This synergy increases the quality of their work while prices remain reasonable.

The Marina Artist Team is Marina Kulik, Marina Teding van Berkhout and Cathie van der Stel. All three are living and working close to Valbonne, with the same passion: painting in aquarelle watercolours. All three are members of the “Aquarellista!” movement and working as autonomous artists as well. The team started end 2007 with the two Marina’s (hence the name) who helped each other with their commissions. When they couldn’t handle more work they looked for another Marina – and in the end chose for the best and her name turned out to be Cathie…

The Marina Artist Team paints portraits of their clients’ nearest and dearest (people as well as pets), or (second) homes. Real estate firms often commission paintings of properties as a gift to their customers.

Aquarelle uses transparent paint that is as fluid as water. The paint is hard to control and because of the transparency, mistakes are hard to correct. Aquarelle paintings have to be ‘right the first time”. That’s why it is known as a “difficult” technique and not too often used for serious artwork
Before the definitive aquarelle is made, many sketches, studies and versions see the light.

An aquarelle watercolour is painted on mould made or handmade paper, the Marina Artist Team works primarily on 300 grams Torchon rough grain paper.

More images: http://www.marinartisteam.com/

Projects - finished, ongoing and new...

Last week was used by many of the aquarellista's to finish and work on paintings that were started the Tuesday before...

...the progress in Anna Karin Fast's snake eye... It came out very convincing - look at the effect of the highlight: the eye is much more real and the whole picture is 3-dimensional all of a sudden...

...remember the basic face that Bibbi Isaksson more or less "doodled" because she had half an hour left! It has now, in the second stage, become a female person -with a strong personality, a hat and an interesting hairdo...

Bibbi also took the still life with glass bottles one step further - and she may go on with it tomorrow!

Two new projects emerged - both from Denise Taillefer-Holt, and they are both promising:

An Iris (-like) flower, that tomorrow might turn into a very interesting colourful, realistic aquarelle.

And the most interesting and beautiful abstract picture of the session (to my opinion) with sooo much potential! Based on the eye in "half-sleep-mode" of a tiny frog. Denise herself didn't like it much by the way, although I wonder if she won't change her mind if she sees this picture...