Don't ask them to be groovy

This is the last part of a series of aquarellista-blog reactions on the article in the Sunday Times that said:

Although I mostly agree to what Waldemar states in the article, this groovy business just goes too far. First challenge of course -  "define groovy"...

Is groovy (in art) something that is reserved to insane artists, related with drama and passion and throwing paint (and other stuff) on the canvas? (or in our case paper) 

Is groovy conceptual, visionary, or original (as in 'new', never done before)

Because although all of the above can be done -and is actually done- in watercolours, all over the world, I must agree that aquarelle watercolours as a technique, in itself asks for another approach.

Joseph Zbukvic - Master Watercolourist from Zagreb

As Joseph Zbukvic says "You have to combine the skills of a surgeon, the clear thinking of an engineer and the emotion of a poet" (and I would add, the patience of a fisherman) to do good watercolours. And that description doesn't completely fit the crazy wild artist...

Pig by Carole Carter 2007

But - isn't Groovy the new 'HIP' ?!? Because I dare to argue that WE may just be the new hip!! Think technology, miniaturisation, thinking computers, nano, bio...

Shocking discovery by Chris Beck

Aquarelle watercolours are environmetally friendly, lightweight, refined, ultra detailed, easily miniatured and enlarged, there is fuzzy logic in it and chance - you can do it everywhere and the result is light & poetic, it is difficult to do, interesting and an acquired taste. 

It may not be for everybody yet - but I see a very groovy future for our medium!!

Tate Britain's Watercolour exhibition I

Since 16 February and until 21 August, there's an exhibition of watercolours in the Tate Britain in London.

My first reaction was 'yippee!' followed by the decision to work extra hard for a while and save money to go there (and I still plan to do just that). It has loads of Turners and the whole history is shown, including very modern watercolours... Exciting!

Venice by William Turner

My second thought however was "why an exhibition on 'watercolours'???"

I was irritated! Why have an exhibition with a medium, a painting technique as driving force: nobody would organize an exhibition 'Acrylics' or 'Oils'...hgrrmpf... what do you think... might that be because watercolours aren't taken seriously as a stand-alone artform even in the country that has a watercolour tradition... Although it is the oldest existing painting technique! Although nothing is so beautiful, transparent, interesting, spontaneous! 

And then I realized that although there will probably never be serious exhibitions on 'Oil painting through the ages' or 'A century of painting in Acrylics' there is a very sympathetic reason for a watercolour-only exhibition: watercolours are a niche, an acquired taste, they are the 'poetry' of painting...

And we, the aquarellistas, the people who have chosen this technique as our raison d'être, as our most important means of expression of our art, we can be proud that we belong... to the poetry niche of all painting!

There is much to write about the subject. In the next post I'll react on an article about this Tate Watercolour expo in the Sunday Times. The article has got a lot of things right, but there's one header we can't let pass: "...don't ask [watercolours] to be groovy"  - mmmm - watch this space!

Watercolours can't be groovy?? Here's one - by Sandra Seymour Dale