Well hey there! I’m so glad you stopped by but I’ve moved!!
Please come and visit me at my new website: http://rachelmurphree.com
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See you there! Artfully yours, Rachel
As a beach comber this might be a fantasy beach…it is a piece in progress started by laying in colors in a soft wash and then carving out and defining shell shapes with medium and dark values. It is a lot of fun and maybe 75% done.
The next steps are to make some shells more believable and continue getting depth and partial shells. Also I will string a path of darks leading you into the left top shell focal point.
This is the painting in an earlier stage. What do you think? I would love to hear!
Cactus and iceplant in progress. Rachel Murphree watercolors
I’ve been I’ve been away from painting for a while because of work and travel and a bit of illness, but I am so happy to say that I am back in the studio again. This is a piece in progress on my easel.
For some reason I think of her as a cactus Queen even though she’s been mis-shapened by pollution and the like.
When I saw her over the years by Hillside Coffee in Montecillo, El Paso, I was impressed by her colors of oranges and yellows, and the ice plant’s soft succulent texture spreading around the bottom of her spikiness.
For awhile there I quite lost my way in creating depth in the ice plant foliage, but I’m happy to say that I think I have a handle on it now.
So there is more work to do in working on the distressed areas of the cactus and adding more spines and more details.
I am pleased to announce that my painting, Desert Snow (Desert Broom in Bloom) was selected to be in the New Mexico Watercolor Society’s SC “For the Love of Art Month” exhibit. FTLA, as this event is known, is an annual Arts event in Las Cruces with studio tours, a member art show and art happenings all around town. See this link for more info: http://www.artformsnm.org/floa. As of this post, the page shows the map and events for 2017 but I’m sure it will be updated shortly.
Our show will be held in the Adobe Patio Studio – 1765 Avenida de Mercado, Mesilla, NM and the opening is Friday, February 3rd from 5-7 pm. Our watercolor show has the theme “Small Miracles” where we were asked to respond to the wonder all around us. My painting is of the beautiful “snow” that occurs when the Desert Broom plant blooms and then sheds its seeds in fluff sent to the winds. This is one of many wonders that I’ve seen on my hikes with my husband on Lost Dog Trail. The Franklin Mountains are a fabulous place to rejuvenate and enjoy nature right outside an urban area.
Hope to see you at the show opening!
I am putting the finishing touches on this piece which will be donated to the Art Con Corazon fundraiser run by El Paso Human Services, Inc. for their programs helping current and former foster youth.
This is a first for me, not in donating, but in using watercolor ground to put on a surface, in this case a wooden board, to allow it to accept watercolors. The ground needs to cure at least 24 hours before it can be painted on.
I like how the wood grain surface shows through the ground which is the white background. The next step is signing it, putting a finishing spray on it, I believe, and getting it to the organizers.
It has been a hectic couple of weeks so I am happy that I accomplished this and hope it does well in the auction.
Art con Corazon will be held next Saturday, October 7th at First Baptist Church, 805 Montana Street, El Paso. It runs from 12-3 and the $10 entry includes appetizers, refreshments and music. Lots of beautiful art will be available for auction and all funds benefit the kids. Hope to see you there!
And we have a great teacher, Laurel Weathersbee, whose enthusiasm and encouragement to “just have fun” and “enjoy the process” sings to me. These are two pieces done quickly, 1/4 sheets, focusing on mingling colors on the paper.
The second one was planned to be rocks but perhaps there are buildings in there? What do you see??
I started playing with a new idea to make magnets from details of prints of my paintings. I think these starter ones turned out cool. I have more glued and weighted drying, to cut and make tomorrow. I won’t have a lot of stock, but I am going to give them a try at the festival this weekend. What do you think?
(And yes, that photo is me in my 20s with my glorious morning glories in my garden in New York. ).
Rachel Murphree Watercolors 