I'm pleased to share

I'm pleased to share that my painting Ekman's Enchantment was selected by Mathew Bird to receive the Maurice Prendergast Award of Merit at the annual exhibition of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America held at the Kenosha Public Museum in Wisconsin.  My thanks to TWSA, Mathew Bird, Brienne M. Brown, and the exhibition chair Sheryl Fletcher Coon.  

So those of you who know my work may be a little surprised by this painting since it is not realism. At the request of my friends and acquaintances I am trying to be less shuttered, and towards that end I will share some information, a story if you will, about this piece.  

I will preface this by telling you that I have lived on both U.S. coasts and lived on an island as well, but I am not a coastal or inland sea person. Let there be no mistake, I am of the river. The goal of my latest painting was to continue telling the story of the relationship between me and my grandfather with our visits to the river as the stepping off point. As a child I was mesmerized by strange river currents and my grandfather encouraged me to research anything that took my interest. I discovered the tale of mathematician Vagn Walfrid Ekman. Ekman was intrigued by odd ocean currents and his determination to explain them spoke to me on a different level...exciting both visually and oddly tactile with spinning water, icebergs, and waves. I explained to my grandfather what I had read and he cocked his head at me when I told him that Ekman was "enchanted". I was an avid reader of the brothers Grimm, so explaining enthusiasm in this way was not unusual for me. Fast forward to the present when I was getting ready to start my next painting but wasn't convinced the composition would work. My plan was to use Ekman's moving vertical spiral, as I envisioned it would appear as seen from above in this new painting. So I do what I always do, I paint the composition with just shapes to see if it works.  I have no expectations of these paintings so they are quite liberating to paint - fun in fact.  But when I have the information I need, I throw them out - torn up - in the garbage. But this time a family member literally begged me on seeing this painting to enter it in something. Since it is related to the subsequent painting but doesn't perfectly relate to the river, I thought it would be appropriate to honor its muse instead. Thus Ekman's Enchantment  became a "real boy" and did not end up in the trash. So imagine my delight when it received this award! I will add that the person who begged me to enter it is so smug right now. Thus I send my sincere thanks out into the ether to the enchanted Mr. Ekman - you sir, are still an inspiration.  Back to my brushes.  

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"Study lends a kind of enchantment to all our surroundings." - Honore de Balzac

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