American Watercolor Masters -- John Salminen

Washington Square, 33" x 37"
2010 Skyledge (Gold) Award, TWSA

John Salminen is the first artist to be featured in a new series I'll be posting periodically starting this week -- American Watercolor Masters.

[Editor's note: I have featured a number of very accomplished watercolorists over the past two years who would certainly qualify as American Masters. This new series is in no way intended to disregard or downplay their considerable accomplishments.]

John is a prolific painter, with signature memberships in numerous art societies, including the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, The Watercolor USA Honor Society, the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, Allied Artist and Watercolor West. In addition, he has been honored with Master Status in TWSA and inclusion in the American Watercolor Society’s Dolphin Fellowship, and he is an honorary member of the Jiangsu Watercolor Research Institute in China. He has won more than 190 awards in both national and international exhibitions and frequently serves as a juror for national shows.

Cable Car, 25" x 24.5"

The majority of John's work involves urban landscapes. Ranging from San Francisco to the Chicago Loop to Greenwich Village to rainy Paris to Shanghai, his subjects are consistently presented in dynamic compositions and his ability to set a mood with color, light and tone is unsurpassed.

City of Light, 24" x 35.5"

Paris Bookstalls, 30" x 36"

Champs Elysees, 25" x 25"

Shanghai Alley, 24" x 35.5"

John has been conducting workshops for many years, all around the country, and he enjoys working with artists at all levels of experience and expertise.

Please visit John's website to see a full gallery of his work and get details of his workshop schedule.

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Winter Scenes -- Anders Andersson & Aud Rye

Winter Communication
watercolor, 11" x 15" (28cm x 38cm)
Anders Andersson

After Snowfall
watercolor, 22" x 15" (56cm x 38cm)
Aud Rye

Two Scandinavian artists -- Anders Andersson of Sweden and Aud Rye of Norway -- find inspiration for some of their work in the wintery scenes that surround them for months every year. While Anders takes a minimalist approach, using a soft palette and very spare imagery, Aud's use of color and detail reveals a much more romantic view of the landscape.

As a young child, Anders borrowed his mother's watercolor supplies to begin painting after watching her make watercolor sketches. By the time he reached the university, he was doing airbrush commissions and also worked as an airbrush artist painting custom t-shirts at the beach. His interest in watercolor was rekindled when his wife gave him the gift of a course in watercolor. He eventually met David Taylor and Joseph Zbukvic, two well-known Australian watercolorists and teachers, and credits them with awakening his passion for watercolor.

Anders Andersson's portfolio:

Cool Communications, 11" x 15" (28cm x 38cm)

Bonan, 15" x 22" (38cm x 56cm)

Winter Sleep, 30" x 15" (76cm x 38cm)

Ice, 7" x 15" (19cm x 38cm)

Winter Water, 15" x 22" (38cm x 56cm)

Aud had been doing freelance drawing and illustration work for magazines and books for many years when she quit her jobs to care for her terminally ill mother. To keep herself occupied and focussed on something positive, she read books on watercolor and taught herself to paint, eventually studying with Kari Unn Paye and Zoltan Szabo, among others. She established a school in her home studio and soon was teaching classes and workshops throughout Scandinavia and Europe. When she gave up the weekday classes, she began taping her worshop preparations, with the result that she has published more than 30 DVDs demonstrating her painting techniques. Aud is also co-author with Solveig Rimstad of Blomster, a book of floral paintings with illustrations of their watercolor techniques.

Aud Rye's portfolio:

Frost, 11" x 15" (28cm x 38cm)

Winter in Kragero, 17" x 11" (42cm x 11cm)


Winterscene, 15" x 22" (38cm x 56cm)


The River, 22" x 15" (56cm x 38cm)


The Creek, 15" x 11" (38cm x 28cm)

Please visit Anders' website (and be sure to check the link to his other site) to see a more extensive collection of his work. A visit to Aud's website will reveal the wide range of her watercolor interests as well (click on Akvareller to see her paintings).

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Two Views of Malaysia -- Ismail Kadir and Phang Chew

Keseng Village
watercolor, 12" x 18" (30cm x 45cm)
Ismail Kadir

Calm
watercolor, 18" x 24" (45cm x 60cm)
Phang Chew

Ismail Kadir and Phang Chew, two very talented and accomplished watercolorists, share a love of the Malaysian countryside but focus on different aspects of the world around them. However, with wide-ranging interests, neither artist is confined to a single subject, and their work overlaps in some areas. Both are also open to experimenting and pushing their work in new directions.

Phang Chew teaches painting and exhibits his work regularly. He has exhibited widely throughout East Asia -- Thailand, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, as well as Malaysia -- and his work was included in the 2010 Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolour Biennial Exhibition.

Phang Chew's portfolio:

Scene from the Countryside, 18" x 24" (45cm x 60cm)

Scene from the Cave of Happiness, 18" x 24" (45cm x 60cm)

Hillside Sheepfold, 21" x 30" (54cm x 78cm)

Duckling Pond, 27" x 33" (69cm x 84cm)

Houses Beyond the Pond, 21" x 29" (54cm x 74cm)

Stream in the Woods, 21" x 30" (54cm x 78cm)

Ismail Kadir also teaches and exhibits regularly. His work has also been included in exhibits throughout East Asia, and he has been invited to the Lushan International Art Festival in Shanghai and Lushan, China since its inception three years ago. He was featured in a full-length article in the June 2009 issue of Watercolor Artist magazine and contributed a painting to the Art vs. Oil Spill disaster relief efforts.

Ismail Kadir's portfolio:

My Village Series #1, 12" x 18" (30cm x 45cm)

Kg Atas Paloh #4, 12" x 18" (30cm x 45 cm)

Pantai Mek Mas Village, 12" x 18" (30cm x 45cm)

Pulau Kundur, 22" x 30" (56cm x 76cm)

Pengkalan Ikan Pulau Gajah, 12" x 18" (30cm x 45cm)

Genting, 22" x 30" (56cm x 76cm)

Please visit Phang's blog to see more of his work. You can visit Ismail's blog to see more of his work, but he has posted most of his recent work on his Facebook profile and welcomes you to view his photo albums there.

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Car Culture -- Diane Morgan and Ron Morrison

Eldorado

watercolor, 17" x 22"
Diane Morgan

This Caddie Has Run Its Course
watercolor, 15" x 30"
Ron Morrison

Diane Morgan and Ron Morrison are both passionate about cars, but approach the subject from quite different directions. While Diane celebrates the new/shiny/powerful aspects of cars, Ron finds inspiration in their decline -- from single "portraits" to piles of rusting hulks. Both of them skillfully exploit watercolor to depict the characteristics of their subjects and clearly enjoy working with the medium.

Diane's goal is "to transform simple everyday life into un-ordinary, not-so-still life" which she accomplishes by using lighting, reflections, exaggerated contrasts and unusual compositions. She says, "I love how the medium takes command. The artist starts the process, but the paint takes charge and leads the work to a sometimes unintended outcome. It's always exhilarating."

Diane's portfolio:

Hot As A Heartbeat, 22" x 29"

Heaven is a '57, 20" x 15"

Mercedes Mascot, 20" x 16"

Highway to Heaven, 22" x 28

Top Down Day, 21" x 16"

Ron says simply, "I've always loved the shapes and colours of old vehicles as they settle in for the long rust. I especially enjoy creating scenes using characters I have collected over the years. These paintings are from my imagination. I am after the entertainment factor. No mask, little reference material, just draw and paint." Ron often returns to the same subjects, recombining images and manipulating mood through his use of form and color.

Ron's portfolio:

'35 Plymouth, 11" x 15"


Pile of Chevys (detail)


The Heaps Are Piling Up, 22" x 30"


Shifting Into Neutrals, 22" x 30"


The Trading Post V, 22" x 30"


Halloween Is Near, 22" x 30"

Please visit Diane's website and Ron's blog to see more of their paintings.

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The Year in Review -- 2010

The Slide feature has been discontinued as of March 2012.

It's hard to believe that another year has passed! This week marks the second annniversary of this blog -- a personal journey of discovery for me as I met new artists and, happily, an increasingly popular resource for other watercolorists. There are now over 850 subscribers, a number I couldn't begin to imagine when I started. My thanks to all the artists who so graciously shared their work and helped to promote the blog.

Once again, I'm presenting a slide revue of the year's artists -- 25 in all. To view a profile, click on the artist's name in the Index Links at the bottom of the sidebar. Or go directly to an artist's website by clicking on his/her name in Featured Artists - 2010. And to see a recap of last year's artists, you can view the slide show for 2009 here.

After two years of following the format I devised at the start, I am ready to try some new things. I'm not quite sure what direction I'm going to take this, but I want more flexibility in the coming year -- both to keep my own creative juices flowing and to sustain your interest in the features. So I hope you'll continue the journey with me and enjoy the ride!!

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Bill Hook

Low Tide – Staithes, 13" x 10"

After four decades as a successful and respected architect and nationally recognized architectural illustrator, Bill Hook is on the threshold of a whole new world of artistic expression. Breaking away from the exacting constraints of the commercial world, he is just beginning to experience the challenges and rewards of plein air work. A turning point came in 2007, when he received a fellowship to live and paint for two months in the tiny hilltown of Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy. In two months, he produced over 60 drawings and paintings. He returned to Civita in May, 2010 and then continued on to the small English fishing village of Staithes, where he enjoyed the changing weather and light of the Yorkshire coast. Although his work is informed and influenced by his architectural background, he now feels free to break away from realistically recording a scene and to focus more on the quality of light and the feeling of a place and time.

Church Street – Staithes, 13" x 10"

White House I, 10" x 6"

Bill was juried into the NWWS Annual Open Exhibition in 2009, and into the Richeson 75 Landscapes Show in both 2009 and 2010. In September, 2010, he participated in his first major plein air event -- the 5th Annual US Open in Coupeville, WA -- and had two pieces selected for the show. He received an Honorable Mention for one of those paintings and it also sold at the live auction. Bill continues to pursue both plein air and studio work. He currently has six pieces hanging in a collective show at The Artique Underground Gallery in Frederick MD.

Coupeville, 13" x 10"

Civita, 13" x 10"

Please go to Bill's website to see more of his work.

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