Is nature inspired art the new green art?

I'm surprised at my recent attraction to landscape and seascapes. I mean hasn't it been done to death? But I'm seeing and feeling it in a new light and these subjects seem not only current but political as well. You can look at advertising as the coporate machines try to convince us how green and environmentally wonderful they are, or you can go out into nature and experience the beauty and wonder that's at risk. My thinking has changed from "okay it pretty", to "we need to save this"

Here's an editorial illustration I did in mixed media collage. What will the world look like if we don't stop global warming?

My second seascape and 6th watercolor.

Breach at Dusk

I've always wanted to paint abstracted seascapes. Funny, I always thought they would be in acrylic and large, but the choice of watercolor is an obvious one.

This painting is pure energy and process. For a fifth watercolor painting, pretty good. I mean if I'm not going to toot my own horn who will. I know sometimes it's hard not to be your own worst critic, and sometimes I have a tendency focus on the negative. I see that one little area that nags at me and lose sight of the whole. It's even hard to post my work and not give a full blown critique. Not to say that a painter shouldn't self critique, but we don't always have to share it with the world. It took me a while to love this painting. It's so different from anything I've done before. Now I think it's one of my favorites.

Well it's Friday afternoon, and I'm taking the time to paint. I wish I'm disciplined enough to paint everyday, but I'm getter better at not waiting for the muse to get me started. If I just start, she will appear. And if she fails to show, I've only wasted some paint and paper, and maybe learned what not do to.

Sunflowers-Melting

Here's some more flowers. Sunflowers this time, melting in the sun. I often do more than one painting of the same thing. Just want to make sure I'm not just lucky, there really is some skill involved. I am loving Winsor Newton Indigo. It's great for shadows. Yummy.

Van Gogh's Sunflowers are breathtaking. I'm fortunate to have seen Van Gogh's paintings in person, once in Amsterdam and twice in Los Angeles. Is it possible to paint a sunflower without thinking of poor Vincent? I like to believe that every time someone paints sunflowers his spirit is with us and our paintings will be beautiful.

And so it begins.

I've recently forayed into the world of watercolor and would like to share my journey with all who care to join me. I hope you'll find something to amuse, relate to, or perhaps learn something along with me. I reserve the right to go off-topic and off-color. But lets start slowly and gently, shall we?

I love roses. Not so much the from the florist, but from a garden, wild and overblown. The yellow rose politely asks for attention while the red demands it. These two roses are my first watercolors ever. Someone said they were wild and beautiful. I humbly agree. I'm encouraged keep a-goin'.