Some of you might be curious about how I became a watercolor artist. So today I thought I would tell you a bit more about my “journey”.
I distinctly remember a huge watercolor paint set I got when I was 7 or 8. It was a large flat metal box, probably about 20 inches wide (things always seem bigger when you are small, but this really was huge!) and when you opened the gigantic lid, it revealed thousands -- ok, dozens of colors! So beautiful And all mine! I loved it. My godfather gave it to me. I sadly have no idea of where it went… lost in a move no doubt… (this is the closest I could find. The image on the top was different, but I’m pretty sure it came from England, as my godfather did his surgery internship there https://www.marthasvintageattic.com/images/products/secondary/1058-3.jpg ) I enjoyed art and painting, but probably not more than most kids. I did enjoy the art classes I had, particularly in high school where I was lucky to have a wonderful Art teacher, but never considered it as a career. I applied to the Photography program at a Montreal college, but out of hundreds of applicants, they only took 15 students a year, and I wasn’t one of them. I spent one semester in the Arts & Letters program at the local college, but there were more Letters than Arts so I quit that. I eventually wound up in Computer Science, which appealed to both my creative side and my rational side, so that stuck! I wound up teaching Computer Science at another college for 33 years. So how did I get back to art? My mother had started a tradition of giving all her grandkids an ornament at Christmas. The year she died (2002), I thought it would be sad to lose the tradition, so I decided to make ornaments to give out in her memory. I had taken a decorative painting class at a local community center so I had some basic techniques and supplies to get started. I made some ornaments for my brother and sisters too. The following year, as the first batch had been well received, I made more, but using a different medium. I researched the new medium (youtube and I have become great friends!) and produced another batch of ornaments. And so started a new tradition and my rediscovery of art. Every year (I will have to make a list some day) I researched and used a different medium in my multi-week mass production leading up to Christmas. The most I made for one year was 43 japanese Temari Balls (google it! fascinating!!) and I still produce around 25 ornaments every year, but the pull of watercolor kept me going the rest of the year. Since I retired in 2014, I have been able to spend more time learning this fascinating medium and painting in general. This year, as we have so much more time at home, I have also started to learn oils, and if that was not enough, pastels. But for now, watercolors are still my “go to” medium. I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my “art history”. I would love to hear from you in the comments!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|