International Watercolour Biennial...

Mr. Burbank's Cactus

transparent watercolor, 20" x 18.5"

Chris Beck

Back in January, I received an invitation from Eau en Couleurs – Belgian Watercolour Centre and the National Watercolor Society here in the U.S. to exhibit a painting this summer in the 2014 International Watercolour Biennial in Estaimbourg, Belgium.  I've just completed a fairly large (for me) painting -- 20" x 18.5" -- based on an enormous old cactus that I saw in the Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa, California.

I want to give a shout-out to Katherine Taylor and John Cogley of Daniel Smith Inc. I met Katherine at a watercolor sampling event at a local art supply store and, a few months later, met John when I went to his fascinating talk on Primatek pigments at an artists' materials expo here in northern California. John is the owner of Daniel Smith Inc., the force behind the company's expansion into new product lines and the worldwide market, and someone who cares about and supports our artistic endeavors with quality materials. Katherine, the sales manager for the wholesale branch of the company, generously gave me watercolor dot cards and other materials so I could try out some new colors.

Cobalt Violet Dark turned out to be indispensable in this painting, along with Quinacridone Deep Gold. Quinacridone Sienna has been my go-to color for mixing darks since I first discovered it ten or twelve years ago, but the star of this particular show is undoubtedly my old favorite -- Green Gold. Thanks, John and Katherine!!

Getting into Mischief...

Cockamamie Cockatoo, 6" x 6"

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, 6" x 4"

The past week has been good for my spirits -- the six little paintings shown here will be hanging in an upcoming show at Studio Gallery, a San Francisco gallery that features Bay Area artists. A friend who has been included in several recent shows there suggested I contact them and also put in a good word about my work. So after email and phone conversations with the owner, I drove up last Friday with just over a dozen pieces and she chose these six for the "Mischief" show. It runs from July 21 to August 15, with a reception on July 25. The gallery is a good fit for my work and I really like the owner, so I'm hoping that she'll want to show more of my work in future shows.

Watch the Birdie, 8" x 8"

Quackeroonies #2, 6" x 8"

"Quackeroonies #2" will have the additional honor of being included in the 2011 Daniel Smith Catalog. I know very little more than that, but I'll keep you all in the loop if more news comes my way.

Dippy Duck #2, 8" x 8"

Colonel Mustard, 6" x 6"

Otherwise, I've been keeping busy with painting and gardening. Our garden is definitely a case of "bloom where you're planted." We have about an 18-inch strip of workable garden space along a very long driveway -- otherwise the yard is too shady for much in the way of flowering plants. We've packed in perennial morning glory vines, gaillardia, roses, salvia, lavender, shasta daisy, coneflower, and assorted filler flowers as well as numerous hanging geraniums. One of these days, I'll share some of the pix I've taken.

Señor Terremoto and I also took a daytrip last week to the Luther Burbank Gardens, a couple of hours north of us, so I could take more resource photos for cactus paintings. It's not a huge garden, but it has some unusual plants. I'll share some of the photos from that trip in another post.

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Pleasant surprise

"Una Tuna"
16" x 16"
watercolor & gouache

Una Tuna is the other painting accepted into the Triton Museum's Statewide Watercolor Exhibit. When I got to the reception tonight, I was pleased and surprised to discover it had received an Honorable Mention! This piece is one of several I created after spending a day with Señor Terremoto at the Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa, CA, where they have what is probably the largest patch of prickly pear in captivity!! Although my initial scheme for this painting had to be abandoned, I'm very happy with the final outcome.