Abstract painting is a good way to explore the materials and ideas without too many constraints. This was probably created from doodles in a notebook hence the relatively blank rectangle in the middle of the design. Wet-in-wet techniques filled the void with swirling colours. This size was commonly used at the time, it represents an efficient 1/8 of a 22 x 30" watercolour sheet. It is also awkward to frame, recently I have moved to more standard sizes.
Who Hug? Watercolour, 7.5 x 11" cold press, 2016
This one was always one of my favorites, the colour scheme and quasi-academic theme seems fitting. Perhaps I can re-do it some time on a rainy day. You may see a lot of themes here, the totems on the distance, the surrealist landscape, the outdoor library. There also seems to be two different dimensions to the painting, with a classic broken horizon. Again I used an efficient paper size, 1/6 of a sheet.
Floating Ideas, watercolour, 10 x 11" cold press, 2009
Here is a much earlier abstract done while I was living in London Ontario. I did a location painting of a
bus stop around the same time, you can see in the link the common imagery. This painting rather looks like a science fiction movie set or page out of a graphic novel. the colouration was also typically darker back them with prolific use of cerulean blue. I read an old document from the 19th century and they mentioned that cerulean blue was not suitable for watercolour! After 2 decades of using the paint I also came to the conclusion, retiring it from regular use and making a
painting to commemorate the paint.
The Dawn: Bus Stop, watercolour, 9 x 12" watercolour paper, 2001
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