Contemporary Botanical Watercolour, "Twilight" by Montana Artist Sheri Trepina

A final art piece is completed prior to leaving for an artist residency in Sedona AZ.  Definitely keeping this "cool" palette in my mind as I enter the more intense heat of Sedona. Looking forward to being inspired by the warm colours of southwest landscape.

I am so looking forward to sharing my process with other artists and patrons of the Sedona Arts Center.  I'll also have the opportunity to gather information thru photos, sketches, and leaf collection.  I'm taking a cooler so I can collect and bring leaves back to work with in the studio.  I"ll "document" the beauty of the area thru field painting with pastel and acrylics. So excited!!!

I hope to post pictures along the way.  Be inspired, follow my daily posts  on my Facebook art page or on Instagram. 

"Twilight"  Watercolour Collage 12" x 12"

In-Process photos; cutting leaves for collage

A free-flowing watercolour  enhanced
with Daniel Smith's iridescent gold watercolour.

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Click HERE for more on my Process with Leaves

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Colouring Your Life with .....Art

Art and Life.....

How is it that we are able to create Art and  manage life's commitments and daily distractions.....they might be obligations that are scheduled or needs that simply fall at your feet without notice....I have had my share of that lately. But it's like a very good old friend used to say " Life is Good".

My husband Don and I have been back and forth to the family farm in Washington, getting ready for and now working on the projects scheduled for this summer.  Two new decks, one with pergola, pool renovation and landscape......Lots of land, lots of landscape.  

There are other projects in the wings but I am grateful to have such a beautiful place to visit and call home, to paint, wander in the orchard, walk along the edge of the canyon or follow the ditch bank looking at the Cascades....amazing inspiration. 

Some pictures of our projects below and my sources of inspiration. And yes thru the distractions I have 6 new pieces going to be scanned before framing. Four leaf pieces using Hostas, Burdock picked in Washington and Rocket plant from Kalispell. There are two non-leaf pieces, a tropical fish and a jeweled sunset landscape, both with gold leaf accents.....A girl loves a little gold :)

Leave me a comment below and tell me how you stay inspired in and around the happenings of life.  

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Glacier Sun Winery and Tasting Room, Kalispell MT

If you're not out enjoying all that winter has to offer here in Montana, stop by the Glacier Sun Winery in Kalispell MT. I have several canvas giclee's showing in the wine tasting room, located in the Apple Barrel Country Market. 

I collected grape leaves from our family farm and used them to make initial marks on watercolour paper.  I also embellished with rice paper and some gold leaf.

The Winery offers a great location not only to enjoy great wine, but art as well.  Enjoy!

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There is Work to Be Done!

My Freezer is Full of Leaves.....

This is the time of the year where I get busy using leaves that I collected this past summer and fall. It's and exciting time creating new art pieces.  The results are always different when using a frozen leaf vs a fresh one.  I discovered years ago that if I was going to use leaves for "Mark Making" in Montana, I had better figure out a way to preserve them for use in the winter. My husband knows we have little meat in our freezer, and yet he still loves me....

 Fresh leaves collected around my Cashmere,WA studio. I will freeze some and of course, and I have to try some mark making with a few fresh samples.

A gathering of leaves, grasses and moss from the Tally Lake, MT area, ready to be frozen or dried.

The Freezer is full for the season and that means I need to get to work....
Get my Art on!

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Mark Making with Leaves

I have found that using leaves to make initial marks on paper or canvas  can be a magical process.  Over the years I have experimented with image making by using acrylic, watercolours and ink painted on to all kinds of leaves and then pressed to a surface. Sometimes the results are dynamic and detailed or the impression left can be lackluster requiring work on my part to be visually interesting.

I scrounge for leaves in the winter, and have wonderful friends who bring me bags of leaves from their gardens during the growing season.  I have found that freezing leaves allows me more play in the snowy winter months.  My husband says we have no meat in our freezer as it is full of leaves....and he loves me still :)

I have experimented with applying pressure to get the paint to release and merge on the paper; rolling with a brayer, applying a paper-towel over the leaf and pressing gently with my fingers to fully weighting down the leaves overnight.   

The pictures below show an application of watercolour to leaves that I picked from our family farm in WA recently.  In this project, I applied a solid surface weight (acrylic sheet over the leaf and then plywood on top) overnight to let the paint seep into the paper and do its magic.......

Grape Leaves 

Watercolour wash applied to the vein side of the leaf

Grape leaf imprinted onto 
Arches 140 Lb. paper

Grape leaf imprinted onto 
Arches  140 Lb.  paper

Sometimes I cut the individual leaves out and use them in collage, other times I work the background to complete the piece.