The 12 Paintings of Christmas Ho Ho HO!

Happy Holidays Everyone! In light of the season I've decided to hold a 12 Paintings of Christmas auction and give away. I will be posting a new painting every day for 12 days.

4 paintings will be awarded at random to anyone who "likes" an image on Facebook or leaves a comment on any of the 12 images here on the blog. Here's the Facebook link.

www.facebook.com/iswatercolors 

The rest of the paintings will be listed on Ebay at very low reserves. These are originals not reproductions. If you get one for $25.01 then MERRY CHRISTMAS from me. Due to shipping constraints etc this is a US only thingy unless you want to contact me before and and set up shipping to your country. Happy Christmas and a wonderful Holiday Season to all!

Scroll down for all the Paintings

 

Duomo from the Via dei  Servi

10.5" x 6.5"

Link to Ebay Auction

Click to Bid 

 

LES Late Afternoon

10.5" x 6.5"

Link to Ebay Auction

Click to bid

 

Dirty Santa No.3

First free giveaway winner

Bob Benner

 

Tracks No. 4

Opelika, Alabama

7" x 5"

For Auction on Ebay

Click here to bid

 

Samford at Dusk

7" x 5"

For auction on Ebay

click here to bid

Garden District No. 1

New Orleans

7" x 5"

Click here to Bid on Ebay

 

The second raffle winner

Congrats Carrie!

 

8th Street Opelika, Alabama

Click here to bid

 

"Mush" an original cartoon 

Click here to bid

To Brooklyn

6" x 6"

Click here to bid

National Watercolor Society Signature!

I was called yesterday by Mike Bailey the President of the National Watercolor Society. He informed me that I had been awarded Signature Status with the NWS. He also let me know that my painting had won the Cheap Joe's Purchase Award in the 91st Annual Exhibition. I am incredibly honored to be included in such an outstanding group of artists in one of the most prestigious watercolor society's in the world. I'm still getting myself around this, but this is a major goal I've had and it feels so wonderful to get there.

If  you'd like to see the painting click here

National Watercolor Society 91st Annual Exhibition

I'm extremely honored that my painting "Thurlow Dam from the Fitzpatrick Bridge" has been juried into the National Watercolor Society 91st Annual Exhibition. The Exhibition runs from October 22 - December 3, 2011 at the National Watercolor Society's Gallery in San Pedro, California.

La Cruz, Puerto Vallarta, and Such.

The freaking Bimbo truck kept blocking me in then I lost Greg. Here's a tour that goes for five hours and leaves at noon. Who wants their eggs? Oh, that tour is unavailable for us. Uhm, a Mexican Fiesta or sunset sailing....interested?

Typical talk around the table at Casa Kaeli in La Cruz, Mexico this morning. The two that stayed up until four are still sleeping and the rest of us have swum, painted, cleaned, all in different order. Noelle sits to my left eating a plate of huevos y papas and makes contented noises. I've finished off a couple of watercolor sketches and am planning a stab at the huevos myself.

fyi- Bimbo is a bread company....

Much more later, but in a nutshell, Noelle and I joined a group of friends headed for La Cruz, Mexico, all staying in a three tier villa with a view across Banderas Bay to Puerto Vallarta from both the upstairs balcony and the infinity pool, which by the way is a great place for a morning, noon, afternoon, or evening cocktail.

I've been struggling to find a way to paint with any results in this heat / humidity and finally struck on just painting in my sketchbook. The paper is thin enough to allow it to dry quickly and I can do a few at a stretch. Here are a few pics and as I said more later.

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The Louisiana Watercolor Society's 41st Annual International Exhibition

A couple of weeks ago Noelle and I drove down to New Orleans for the opening of the LWS 41st International Exhibition. One of my paintings had been accepted for the show and we thought it would be a great chance to visit a city we both love and see a collection of amazing work at the show. Neither of us had been to New Orleans in more than 10 years and although I visited quite a few times over the years we had let that destination slip for a while. We stayed with an old friend in the Irish Channel just off of Magazine Street and as always New Orleans never disappoints. On two points the trip was a surprise. Firstly the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Low 80's and no humidity and secondly, my painting 5th Avenue in Rain, was awarded the First Honorable Mention at the show.

Although I've entered quite a few juried shows over the last couple of years actually showing up for an opening is not something I do with regularity. Some of the shows would require serious travel, but the real reason is I simply don't like viewing my work with any ideas about individual merit in mind. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely thankful when I am awarded an honor or specific recognition, but if one doesn't win, which is often enough, I don't like the idea of that particular image losing any of it's charm on a personal level. Being juried is not easy....

Watching your wife watching you being juried is one hell of a good laugh.

I thought I got worked up. She looked like a little red ballon slowly filling with air. As each ribbon was handed out a little more air went in. At some point I realized I was either going to get an award or have to physically remove her from the building.  Just seeing how much it meant to Noelle was enough for me. She sees me painting daily, she is called on to critique my work, and at times she'd rather be smacked with a fish than have to look at another of my paintings with any interest, but there she was holding her breath and counting ribbons still left on the table. Well my name was called and I went up to have my photo taken. Looking back, I saw Noelle was being congratulated by the people around her and I think that's absolutely fitting. We do this together.

The downside? She wanted me to wear the baby blue ribbon pinned to my shirt.... uh, no.

All in all a great weekend, great friends, good food, music, and what a damned good group of watercolors.

5th Avenue in Rain

Andre and Noelle on Magazine

Higbee 6 x 6 Show

No Billy Crystal or Ricky Gervais, but Randy Higbee certainly put on an Awards Show last night. I think it's got to be the first of it's kind on Facebook. Instead of just posting all of the winners in his 6 x 6 Show he rolled out each winner one by one creating a bit of suspense. For those of you who don't know Randy or this show; it's an open with the only requirement being that the work be done at 6" square. Randy then takes each piece and frames them using his stock. He is the King of Frames after all. 297 artists entered a total of 1174 works of which 500 were accepted. I was happily surprised to find that my painting "1st Avenue at Noon" was selected as one of the award winners. It was one of only two watercolors to receive an honor and it's especially nice to share that distinction with my friend Tom Schaller who's work Venice Afternoon 2 was the other watercolor to receive an award.

It's a real treat to be included in this group let alone win an award. Some of the top artists in the country submitted to this show and the calibre of work is stunning to say the least. Currently the only way to see the show if you're not in Costa Mesa, CA is via Randy's Facebook page, but I expect that will change soon. If there is a web link posted I will update this.

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Experimenting with loose / fast technique.

Over the last few days I've made a renewed discovery. Arches 140 lb. cold press paper. I've used it before and always returned to it's 300lb bigger brother,  but this time I really noticed the difference in the two surfaces. The 140 lb. is much more conducive to fast brush strokes and more gestural style. The 300 lb. is an extremely absorbent paper and draws on your wash like a sponge. I've always enjoyed it for the control it allows, but if you're looking to splash the color around, it can stifle a fluid style by drawing too much moisture out of the brush and limiting the range of a single stroke. I happened on this by chance on Friday as I set out to do an image with a real disregard for detail focusing more on the larger shapes and construction of the overall composition. Coming from the 300 it was like walking out onto a skating rink in tennis shoes. Lot's of movement, very little control in the sense I'm used to, and pure fun. I quickly ran through 3 images and although I'm still getting my bearings with this surface I'm having more fun than I have in a while.

Sunlit Corner NYC #1

14" x 10.5"

Sunlit Corner NYC #2

14" x 8.5"

Art Auction for Japanese Disaster Relief Round Two

My first auction for Japanese Disaster Relief went very well. Congratulations to the high bidders and thanks to everyone involved. We raised $1200.00 in the first round. The second auction is still open. Please follow the link to the Daily Paintworks Help Japan Challenge sponsored by Keiko Tanabe to bid. Again all of the proceeds from this auction will go to one of the Disaster Relief Options listed on the website.

Click here to Bid-Thank you.

Samford at Night

16" x 8"

Art Auction for Japanese Disaster Relief

Samford at Night

16" x 8"

The auction for this painting ends March 23rd at 8pm CST

click here to bid

My wife Noelle and I were talking about the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan last night and describing how helpless we felt watching the news coverage. Each day brings more shocking news and truly heartbreaking stories. It's so easy to feel small and unable to help and the frustration of watching as we  sit comfortably and safe in our home makes the feeling that much stronger. As we talked I mentioned that Keiko Tanabe and Tom Schaller were auctioning some of their work to be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society. I had been thinking about doing something similar when I first saw Keiko's post and as I can hopefully reach a different group of people I would like to join them in auctioning some of my images. I have been in touch with Keiko and decided that the proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

The winning bids will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

To bid please email me at iainstew@mindspring.com 

The starting bid on each image will be $50.00

The bidding will run through Saturday March 19th at 8pm CST for the last 5 images. The first image is a new auction which will end Wednesday March 23rd at 8pm CST.

To see a list of other artists who are also auctioning their work please click here.

The auction for the paintings below ends March 19 at 8pm CST

Savannah No.1

11.5" x 8.25"

Auction Ended Final Bid $125.00

North Georgia No.1

12" x 19.5"

Auction Ended Final Bid $200.00

Basillica di Santa Maria del Fiore

8" x 10"

Auction Ended Final Bid $275.00

Marina No. 1

13" x 9"

Auction Ended Final Bid $300.00

Chicago Tour Boats

14" x 6.5

Auction Ended Final Bid $300.00

I would like to thank all of the people who participated in this auction. Together we have raised $1200.00 for the Japanese Red Cross. The Samford Hall auction will continue until 8pm CST March 23 and the current high bid is $250.00.

http://artauctionsforjapan.blogspot.com/

Commuter No.2

The Commuter No.2

27" x 10"

A return to a previous painting and a follow through with a move from a carefully done study to a much larger painting. 

Savannah

Here's a new one. This little fella lasted all of 12 hours on my facebook page before being snatched up by a new collector. Thank you.

West Bay Street   Savannah, Georgia

7" x 18"

Pratique Des Arts

Very exited to get my copy of the french art magazine, Pratique des Art Hors-Serie Aquarell. Check out page 36. This issue is full of fantastic work from watercolor artists around the world and it's a real honor to be included. A special nod to Tom and Tracy who are showcased as well.

Delancey to the Williamsburg Bridge

Delancey to the Williamsburg Bridge

20" x 8.5"

Here's the latest. I've been pretty busy juggling teaching plans, rendering, and prep for my upcoming show. Not that I'm complaining by any means. It's nice to be tired at the end of the day. In this one I wanted to give a nod to my love of detail while still retaining a bit of the looseness I've been working on over the last year or so.