Art, Unabstracted

One of my favorite things about Iowa State is The Workspace. While I've usually enjoyed arts-and-crafty stuff, it's never been something I pursued. But last summer, while picking up buttons for my writing center, I noticed a "Craft of the Month" posted: clipboard art. I asked if I could buy it, like a kit, but they said it was meant to be done in the Workspace itself. Basically, each month, you can walk in during open hours, pay a small fee, and they'll set you up with a how-to and a box full of supplies. It is addictive. Since then, I've done most of the crafts-of-the-month, and most of the walk-in one-time things like scarf dyeing or bracelet making. And I've done a few classes, too: tai chi, sea-glass jewelry, Zen doodling, miniature book-making, and watercolors. (In addition to accommodating a wide variety of arts, The Workspace also coordinates movement classes, including tai chi, some theatre-oriented stuff, and dance.) I've been posting my crafts over on Instagram as I've done them, and I feel really proud. Like, I've taken a hammer to copper tubing and made my own bracelets! It's pretty awesome.

As for painting, I shared a photo of the octopus I painted a couple of weeks ago, which remains my favorite thing, color-wise. I don't think I really have a good grasp on the medium of watercolor yet--I crave saturated colors and nubbly textures, which are not really things watercolors do.


Above, you'll see everything I painted in watercolors class, to varying degrees of success. The least abstract ones--the lilac-like branches and the pine tree--were imitated from the models we got in class. In contrast, you can see where I just kept fiddling and adding and daubing on. For a couple of the most vivid ones, rather than wetting the paper and mixing water in with the paints, I worked with dry paper and an almost entirely dry brush. Not an incredibly efficient use of paint, but satisfying to my eye.

Our watercolor instructor, Molly Nagel, emphasized two things about using these paints:

1. Watercolors will teach you patience. To get a good sense of what your painting will look like, you have to let the paint dry before you start adding more. Watercolors will mix, and bleed, and fade. Watercolors will teach you how to wait.
   
   
2. Watercolors will always wake up. No matter how long you let paint crack and dry on your palette, or how many days you let your canvas (or in my case, heavy-weight cold-press paper) sit, a few drops of water will bring it all to life again, and you can keep on dabbing and dabbling.

There's something really satisfying about both those principles, regardless of whether I keep on with watercolors. A few weeks ago, I went to the crafts store and bought a pad of watercolor paper, a set of brushes, and a set of paints. So far, I've only done the aforementioned octopus. I've also been trying to work more slowly.



I've worked on the tree painting on four different days. On the first, all I did was the background--a wash of green. On the second day, I used burnt sienna to outline the branches, trunk, and root. About a week later, I did the green leaves. And tonight, I muddled together some white, crimson, and ultramarine to get the purple for the blossoms. I haven't decided if I will do anything more with it. I'll let it sit for a few days. I'll mull.