Wet paint on wet paper

Sunday morning I was reading in one of my art books, but noticed I was distracted by a sensation of heaviness, or sadness of some sort, inside my body. I had the urge to paint my feeling, one color and brushstroke at a time, without analyzing or pre-planning anything. I took a piece of watercolor paper and wetted it entirely, let the water settle into the paper a bit, and just started painting. It started out as a boiling pot of wet-on-wet color at the bottom. I added color by brushstrokes directly to the paper and also by flicking a brush loaded with paint to create splatter onto the paper. I also added a little salt at the bottom, which sucks up the watercolor and creates the effect of light spots. The process of painting was playful and fun, and before I knew it the heavy sensation inside me was gone. I love the way watercolor merges in unforseen ways on wet paper. When I looked at it, it appeared like a flower emerging and reaching for the sky. It feels like "Morning Joy," so that's what I named it. What does it feel like to you?

A Fractured Look

It is always refreshing to try something different, and this one was fun to do. If you look closely at this painting, you can see the insertion of geometric shapes onto the flower design. The idea was to change color between shapes to create the impression of a somewhat "fractured" look. I like this painting the way it is, but I may decide to make the color distinctions even greater. I'll keep you updated if it gets a facelift!