Carrasco Studio

West Seattle Blog Ruins Tour and CandP Watercolor classes

Hey people...take a look at the West Seattle Blog article about my work and my classes in the March 21 !  Ellen Cedargreen wrote the article and took the photos during my tour of the Ruins and also put in a plug for my classes.  Thanks Ellen!  Thanks West Seattle Blog!  My infamy increases.

Photo by Robert Pisano            The Ruins Ballroom.  40’ by 30’ by 17’ high.

 

Here I was, ready to install after two years of work.

The Pacific Northwest Primeval cartouche ..15’ by 17’ Part of the Ruins Ballroom.

The Nez Perce Cartouche 17’ by 8’  Part of the Ruins Ball Room

J. Edgar Hoofer.  4’ by 2.5’  (in the entry) Part of a series I painted of 30’s political characters. Mr. Hoofer, here, is a cross-dressing zebra.  John Swartley designed the format for all 6 characters.

BTW, the food at the Ruins is fabulous.

And here’s a shot of my wonderful students in a class  a couple of winters ago.

(Each class unit has a different focus....this next unit (starting tonight at CandP Coffee 5612 California Ave SW Seattle, WA 98136-1515(206) 933-3125) will feature spring, animals, color theory and creation of space with values and aerial perspective.  All levels of skills welcome.

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 9/17/09  All blog entries on this site, visual or intellectual, are the property of Jennifer M. Carrasco (unless stated otherwise) and cannot be reproduced or used without her written permission.

Spring Inches Across the Land

 My tulips are up and meditating about blooming, and a male robin is patroling our spaded beds.  He looks martial and very smartly turned out.  New feathers and a bit of a black crest on his head.  Aha! A worm! He dives in triumph. (the robin) The early bird...etc., etc.

Which brings to mind.  My watercolor class at CandP starts up again on the 22nd of  March.  I wanted to let you know before it fills up.  Register soon.  The early bird...etc.etc.

Here's the facts.

Brown wrens, martial robins, timorous rabbits, fresh and radiant art loving creatures! Let's express our inchoate yearnings and renewals with splashes of paint and blooming fields of flowers.

Besides having fun, you learn skills and a way to start on your individual path in art. As a teacher, the coffee shop has been my favorite venue. Cameron and Pete, the owners of CandP Coffee have been the souls of generosity to allow us to paint in their space.  We all have bloomed.  You too, come to the meadow.

See ya. Chirp! Ribbit! Cheep!

 

 

Keep them Foxes Coming

Fox crossing the snow in the Copper Mountains           ©Jennifer M Carrasco 10/23/93

 

        The Thought Fox

    I imagine the midnight's moment's forest:
    Something else is alive
    Beside the clock's loneliness
    and this blank page where my fingers move.

    Through the window I see no star:
    something more near
    Though deeper within darkness
    Is entering the loneliness:

    Cold, delicately as the dark snow,
    A fox's nose touches twig, leaf;
    Two eyes serve a movement, that now
    And again now, and now, and now
       
    Sets neat prints into the snow
    Between trees, and warily a lame
    Shadow lags by stump and in hollow
    Of a body that is bold to come

    Across clearings, an eye,
    A widening deepening greeness,
    Brilliantly, concentratedly
    Coming about it's own business

    Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox
     It enters the dark hole of the head.
    The window is starless still: the clock ticks,
    The page is printed.

            .............................Ted Hughes

Or painted.  Or sung...... Carved, Composed, Collaged, Connected.

Arctic Daydreams

This is where I learned to memorize images and then go inside to draw them.  My ink would freeze, otherwise.

Grey Whales in the Llano

 Llano River and Boulders                        ©Jennifer M.Carrasco  11/21/10

 

I am working with a series of watercolors about the Llano river in Texas.  I find, that in painting, it is always a fine balance between honoring  both the surface and depth of water.

The river is very clear and runs  over granite boulders smoothed by water and time.  The boulders, where they emerge from the water, make me think of grey-backed whales....and pockets of grass in some of the stone declivities add to the illusion.  Blowhole spouts of grass. Each boulder has a middle ring of dried salts with  the water marking a hem of dark pink granite in the lowest ring.

The water doesn't  rush into rapids, but slides sleek and transparent from gentle level to level, eddies in dark green channels and occasionally stills in a hollowed out bathtub of stone.

And all day the Texas wind blows, and the minnows dart in the shallows.  Tiny frogs leap from still puddle to puddle, and hide in the algae from the herons that stalk them.

I could play all day in this sparkle of clear water, smooth  granite and faded blue Texas sky.

 

 

BAAA BAAA Jackson

I amped up my cuteness factor with this lawn ornament I did for my cousin Maggie's sheep soiree auction. I offered to paint the form made of rough pressed wood and decided it had to be done ala Jackson Pollack. Notice this lamb has a talking mustache.

And here is Maggie's event.  She trains sheep dogs and is an animal whisperer.  She is the first person who has ever told me that sheep intelligence exists on a special sheep plane.  I was humbled.

Do come to the event if you can.  After the pen and the sheep shipment (sheep have been brought in from Arizona so Maggie's sheep won't get too tired) are paid for, all the proceeds go to a special projects foundation for Vashon Island teachers.

So far, I'm bringing 6 of my peeps to come enjoy the event, hang out with dogs and sheep and have a picnic on the meadow. It's supposed to be nice.  Yawl come. Baaaaa.

Transparency

Leaves and sun, green and gold gauze, in the late autumn light.

Branches, dark and opaque, like bones of a hand, cupped to a candle.                                                                                                                                             

 

 

 

Tie a String Around your Water Color Brush

......to remind yourself that I am giving a hands-on workshop at Daniel Smith   (4150 First Avenue S., Seattle, Wa, 98124) on September 18 at 11 am to 12 noon, 1pm to 2 pm.  The theme is about working with value in watercolor.  Space is limited to 15 people, so  you might want to call ahead if you are interested....206 223 9599.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

 

We spent an idyllic two days on the Kitsap Penninsula with our friend Paula.  The clouds are massing......summer is showing it's sunny behind over the Olympics.  I stand on my front porch and wave my hankerchief at the passing season.

Paula's feast. A Primary Poem.

 

Ah.

Can yellow be so round?

Webs of algae.

 

Paula's garden, Paula's hops

......that reflection and shadow thing....again.

 
Port Townsend Market...and all the beets and carrots, color co-ordinated.....


 

Sea salad

Glorious potatoes.

Farewell Blue Heron.

Black and White, Color, Here to There in Watercolor Values

For all interested parties, I am giving a hands-on demo at Daniel Smith (4150 First Avenue S., Seattle, Wa, 98124) on September 18 at 11 am to 12 noon, 1pm to 2 pm.  The theme is about working with value in watercolor, something I've noticed is a problem for a lot of students, and, frankly, a challenge for me as well.

The Daniel Smith Lunar Black watercolor pigment is a great vehicle for doing value studies, and I have found it to be effective even as a method of establishing values and then glazing over the black and white rendering with color glazes.  Sort of like the Venetian method of oil painting in the 1500's.  The trout is an example of this.

I know all of us have been cautioned about using black in paintings, especially watercolor because carbon black or ivory black is so opaque and tends to make a "black hole" in your painting.  However, this Lunar Black is a different kettle of fish.  It GRANULATES and sparkles on the paper, and is terrific even for mixing with a stain or glaze.  I did this with the leaf in the following example.  The middle image is a little lighter in value than the actual leaf, but that was a choice on my part.  I both glazed with some Lunar Black and sap green and use it straight in wet areas to create the spots.

 

And here are some black and white studies and the color watercolors coming out of the studies.

I have shown also how you can work with a photograph you have altered to black and white on your computer.  I usually flail away with paint in plein aire situations, but for teaching and careful rendering (especially when you live in rainy Seattle), it's often more practical to work with photos.  I think one needs to work directly in the landscape or with object/figures to get that energy transfer and to take chances, but from time to time, it is necessary to work inside with a photograph.

So, you will be able to experiment....and since there will be materials, the charge for the workshop is $10 for supplies.  You'll get three pieces of paper, some Lunar black and some other colors to play with, and Dan Smith and I will have some brushes you can borrow.  The class is limited to 15 or 20 (I forgot how many), so if it appeals to people, it may fill up soon.

Oh say can you see.....the Lunar Black blending with the greens?