Category: garden gate

Finished on Friday Doubled

Finished two paintings for today. Don’t get too excited, things could turn around again any minute.


Today I found the time to finish the painting of the little Greek church and when I was done I quickly turned my attention to my old photos from last summer.
There is something very appealing about the Greek countryside and the sea that I cannot resist. But I find I don’t feel too free when painting from photos I’ve taken there. I never seem to be happy about the compositions. Maybe I just really need to be there in person. This work feels stiff to me.
Inlet Church ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor Arches cold press paper

Then there are the photos I took last spring and summer of the vegetables, sunflowers and my garden then make me feel very comfortable when painting from them. I am not so sure why.

This second work was pushed out soon as I finished the Greece landscape. Feeling the need to paint something different right away, I grabbed this photo, cropped the area I wanted to work with, and headed straight to paint. No pencil drawing, just paint sketching. Maybe a little longer than twenty minutes?

Garden ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper

I worked until I felt that I should stop. Much of this work was wet, but I pushed on, only waiting until it dried just enough to continue. Again, I tried to keep the water to a minimum.

Leaving out extra stuff, ignoring other things, just adding detail where I wanted to point out some things and that was it.

This work doesn’t feel as stiff as the previous painting. Maybe it’s me, but it feels so much better.

Painting a Garden Gate

 Garden Gate 7×10 Watercolor on Canson paper
©2000 Dora Sislian Themelis

The post I planned for today was thrown out of the water when I awoke to find out a watercolor landscape painting in my Etsy shop sold over the weekend. Allow me to bask in my glory for a moment.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure I would even get to paint on the latest work during the last few days. There was so much going on besides the usual running around.  I’ve decided to change the color of the foyer of my house, and when is that going to happen? Why do I do these last minute things?

Anyway, I’ll tell you what I did to the latest painting tomorrow. Right now I have a SALE! Yay for me!

In the beginning of my watercolor journey, after the horrible intro to watercolor class a while back, I was determined to push myself to learn. The paints I was using were student grade, and the paper wasn’t much better. Besides, it was all new to me. What did I learn at that class? Nothing. Imagine my guts, taking myself to paint in watercolors en plein air? What was I thinking?

Well, I did ok. Watercolor painting is difficult enough and I had to be outside with it.

Near the end of that summer, I took my kids to Old Westbury Gardens and Mansion near my area. It’s a beautiful Gold Coast of Long Island, NY mansion and formal gardens. The gardens alone are breath taking in size and variety of flowers. The house is so large I could put my house inside the living room.

The weather that day was beautiful and we really enjoyed roaming around. While my guys looked around the garden I sat in a spot by this garden wall with it’s intricate wrought iron gate and tried to sketch the scene. I was pleasantly surprised to find I liked the outcome of this. At the time I really wanted to push myself to paint more, what did I know about process?

A few paintings are in the Etsy shop I have, along with the bead jewelry I make and some small knitted items. Etsy may not be the right venue for fine artwork, but until I get myself together with my own website, some items have a home there. Imagine my surprise when I saw a notice that I had a sale.

It’s a small work, but it will make another someone happy. I’m already thrilled, once more.

Photos for Friday

Step into my garden..

The week has flown by after an event filled weekend. I’ll tell you about it next week when I have the chance. For now just enjoy a peek into my backyard garden. Last spring I painted a watercolor of the inside of the garden gate looking the other way. Will this be the next, with the view peering in?

Quietly Closing the Garden Gate

It’s a very quiet Sunday around here.  Monday I’ll be driving to NYC again to get my sister back to her apartment and her chiropractor appointment.  Since I’ll be running around tomorrow I decided to post today.  I don’t know why it’s so quiet outside.  It seems as if the whole world went on vacation and left me home.  I’m not complaining, I like it quiet, but it just seems unusually low key out there.

I had to visit a few shops, which I rarely do on Sunday since the world is usually out shopping on Sundays.  To venture out near those shopping areas and malls is just not worth it to me.  I can go any day of the week, but this time a coupon I wanted to use had a time limit.  Today was the day.  It’s cloudy and cool so we weren’t visiting the beach, the Mr. was out doing stuff, Son#2 laying low and the coupon was starring at me.  I went out, did my thing and I’m back.  You know what I’m making for dinner?  Reservations! Hahaha! So it’s time to post here.

Remember this garden watercolor?  I had become frustrated with it and just went on to other things.  I couldn’t work on another painting because this was still attached to the block.  It had to be finished for me to go on to the next work.  My heart wasn’t in it anymore because I felt I was getting too detail-y, if that’s a word. I didn’t like how things were going.  I wasn’t pleased with the composition.  I was winging it and feeling that out of body-ness of the process.  Beside, it became a chore.  I ignored it for a while.

Until this week when I decided I had other more interesting things to paint.  Rather than go back out to the scene of this particular crime, I worked on it inside.  It was too hot anyway (my excuse) so it was back to the studio with it.

(c)2010 DST, At The Garden Gate, watercolor

I’m done.  I’m not touching this anymore.  Remind me next time to scale down the action, OK?

What’s the Rush?

Painting in progress
I must slow down my progress on this garden painting.  I’m trying to figure out why I’m in such a rush while painting.  Where’s the fire, huh?  I don’t take into account that I’m working with a medium that needs to dry somewhat before I keep throwing more paint in an area.  What’s that word?  Impatient?  I feel like I want to see results while I’m  painting, but with these watercolors I’m learning I need to wait just a bit or there’s going to be mud, not color and form.  While I was working on this I had to stop myself from continuing. 
Is it that I’m working from life that gives me a sense of urgency?  The idea that I’m present and ready, let’s get it down before I lose the feeling?  I don’t get that sense when I work from my photos.  No, with photos I get too detail-y.  Maybe it’s the idea in my head that time and light is fleeting?
When I paint from life I forget where I am and it’s a good feeling.  But I push it and keep painting like a mindless robot, just adding color, shadow, lines, water, with out of body movements.  As I wake from my painting stupor, I look at the work I did and think, “Ok, you did it again and messed it up! Idiot.”  Some how I don’t tear up the work and I just leave it tossed aside discarded like the trash, but not in the trash.  Later on while passing by on my way to another room I see it and think “Oh that’s how it looks now?  How come it’s not as bad as I thought?”  Things seem to work.
Funny thing is I always forget that it’s the process not the outcome.  Why is that?  I wish I could figure out how my brain works.  How long does it take to grow up?