Sharon June 20th, 2008
Online, things are always changing. As many of you know, I have several web sites for various aspects of my online world and this Woodland Watercolors site has been the location for my art as well as information on my techniques, general information and (formerly) workshops. I have decided to split this a little but when I get it finished I hope the changes will not be really noticeable if there is a good flow from one site to another.
I am in the process of building a gallery site at WoodlandArtStudio.com where you will find most of my original paintings, both sold and currently available. Until it is completely set up, the art will still be here. Up to now I have only put up relatively few of the hundreds of paintings I have done over the years, but it has been pointed out to me that it is still a good idea to show works even if they are sold and hanging in collections. As it was always hard to keep up with the task of taking down art from the site after it was sold, this will surely be easier and it may be of interest for visitors to see a wider variety of the art, even as I add new works.
This site I will maintain for general commentary on studio subjects; new techniques, studio developments and probably more. It will link to the gallery site of course as well as my other sites WoodlandSeasons.Com (for nature commentary) and Woodland Studio.Net (licensing art for product design).
I keep SharonHimes.com as a ‘portal’ or gateway to all my sites and it also links to a site on the book I wrote several years ago ‘Cavalier’s Adventure, the story of Henry Norwood’. The ArtCafe Artists’ Network site I founded in 1995 has hundreds of my articles and of course I still am involved there.
If you think I could have probably gathered all my interests under one domain and site, you are probably right. After nearly 15 years of creating web sites and writing web pages, I still find it a fun and satisfying way to express my various interests and a collection of related sites helps me stay organized. Visit again and see how this grows!
Sharon June 9th, 2008
Woodland art is a wonderful way to bring nature into your home. A new piece of art can sometimes freshen a room more than a new coat of paint. If you are looking for an affordable alternate to buying original art, or if the original of your favorite piece is not available in the size you need, you can choose reproduction prints of Woodland art in a variety of sizes from Imagekind.
The Imagekind.com site features my art on their front page this week and the work has been very popular. The art is organized into seasons and you can choose the prints in small, medium or large formats and even select matting and framing from the site. I personally designed the recommended framing styles based on my 15 years of experience as a framing designer but you can choose what best fits your own decor and style.
Sharon May 26th, 2008
Recently I became interested in painting with fluid acrylics (Golden Brand). These paints can behave much like traditional transparent waters and yet, since they are acrylic, can be used on panels and framed without glass. The panels are coated with a surface that resembles cold press watercolor paper but of course the colors do not sink into it like paper. Glazing layers are still possible.
I am a firm believer in practice and experimentation to learn new painting techniques. I have decided to paint a series of 100 panel paintings in the next year and see where I can go with this new material. I will not be giving up my traditional transparent watercolors on paper of course, but the panel paintings are smaller and perhaps less detailed. Since the fluid acrylics are water based and I will be working with them as much as watercolor as possible, I will be using the term ‘watermedia’ to describe them.
I plan to complete this series of at least 100 panels before May 2009 and they will be offered for sale on this site for under $100 each, shipping included. Each will be numbered on the back with their place in the series and the date it was painted. There should be one or more posted every week and remain available until marked sold. These should be popular with collectors of my work. You will find the panels available along with my other art on the new site Woodland Art Studio