I taught adult watercolor classes and workshops during this period and gradually developed a style of my own, much as handwriting styles change as we grow older. Painting realistically became less important and strong values, rich colors, and an abstract approach to composition became more so. I hope you will see this in the paintings shown here.

These images – all transparent watercolors – cover a number of subjects and approaches. Earlier ones show primarily the Minnesota in which I live, and include landscapes, flowers, buildings and animals. After being contacted by a gallery in Florida, I added tropical subjects such as parrots, monkeys, jaguars, etc. to my repertoire. Even the occasional elephant showed up.

Most of my watercolors were done on 100% rag paper and were painted in the traditional manner. The paper is on a flat surface or at a slight angle so that I can control the movement of water and paint. As I have painted for the Florida market, my paintings have gotten larger, going from 22 x 30" to as large as 40 x 60". To accommodate the larger pieces, I paint with the paper clipped to a vertical surface. Talk about paint and water running in one direction!

Right now I have paintings in two galleries: The Stillwater Art Guild Gallery in Stillwater, Minnesota to which this page is linked, and the Shaw Gallery in Naples, Florida, (shawgallery.com)

(c) 2004 Judith Blain