Patti Gibbons Art

Stunning day on Cape. We typically go to the beach from 3-5. Less people, less sun. Today we drove to Marconi Beach where it was surprisingly quiet. It was low tide, with a fab sandbar and between the beach and sandbar was a nice swimming area safe from the jaws of the sharks - about 4 feet deep. The water temp was 60 though I swear it was much warmer. Maybe I’m just a tough old bird used to mountain streams. I swam. And painted some postcards and small watercolor cards. I travel simply and  just bought my basic Kremer set. My friend from Barcelona is in the states, so I await her and another friend for a few days of  playtime. Larry will have to deal though somehow I suspect he enjoys being surrounded by women. Oh what a lucky man he is.

Coast Guard Beach later afternoon. Painted in my Moleskine watercolor notebook which documents my travels.  This book started in 2015- flipping through it brings back memories-Redondo Beach, various beaches on the Cape,  Whitinsville Reservoir, Mohonk Mountain House, Lake George.... I may finish the book this week. Stay tuned..... (Kremer Pigment watercolors, black ink pen)

Day 2:  another lovely day.... the first piece I painted was a flop. I screwed up the boat and ended up just making some weird mystical thing in the water. I enjoyed the process and may use pieces of this in something else, or not. (I am writing on my iPad, in poor photography light, and my wireless keyboard seems to have bit the dust!) The second painting I did while waiting for the workmen to finish their work in the yard. I sat in the screened in porch painting my view. Not quite finished. A good exercise. I will repost when done. I work in layers...and need to put more detail etc in.  After my 3 o’clock float on the reservoir I had to pack up and head to destination 2- Cape Cod. I found the traffic to be very light leaving late from the camp in Douglas. Totally psyched to go to our yearly rental and see my dear friends. The second piece

First full day of vacation. The first painting was my memory of dawn as seen through slatted eyes before I drifted back off to sleep. With the image seared in my pre-coffee brain, I painted in a trance-like state.  Watercolor on 6x6 Strathmore Artist Watercolor Tiles 400 series. I love a square and though I work in various size formats, square is my all time favorite magical shape.  The next was a composite sketch that I did while walking to the reservoir causeway and in the state forest preserve. I would walk a bit, then sketch a few components in the area I randomly stopped at. I used a Windsor Newton black watercolor marker with a water brush to make washes, then added color/ iridescent watercolor to the ink sketch when I returned to the cabin.  I found that I could not get a dense rich black with the brush- I may go back in a few places with a more permanent ink... time to try my Montblanc Magic Black! Of course there was floating, and snacking, and conversation.....

On the Road (Again) Packing Have not written as I have been busy as I had my grandson for a few weeks, and put all but the most pressing jobs and projects aside for quality time for him. If there is one thing I have lived in this colorful life I have had, is people you love come first.  A month or two ago I wrote a blog about my art bags. Faced with a road trip and minimal time to get ready, I had to make a hard decision as to what supplies I was bringing. I decided to take ONLY what fit in my new red office/computer bag, a 5.00 bargain in a second hand shop in Warrensburg, NY. It was new with tags no less!  I have used this bag a few times to transport small pieces to galleries. Though it does not fit more than 2-6 pieces, I can stack a smaller bag on top, and easily wheel them to the gallery.  Life has been complicated, and my current mantra is simplicity. I decided upon watercolors, as they are easy to hike with, dry quickly, and I can stack my art for...