Progress

                                              "Walks of Life", Watercolor Section WIP
                                                             ©Carmella Tuliszewski

Busy, busy month and not much time for painting.  

But every once in awhile I manage to sneak in a bit of time here and there to work on this piece.  

Just showing a small section now until I can get it moving along again. 

Still excited about it tho, and will share a little back story on it later.  

It was a bright sunny, summer day when I came upon this scene and I think 

so far I am getting that feeling across.

And some great news came my way recently!

A big YAY! and thank you PWCS.

Accepted into

THE PHILADELPHIA WATERCOLOR SOCIETY

116th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION

to be held at 

WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY

WEST CHESTER, PA

September 6 thru October 15, 2016

"GLIMMERGLASS"

Recipient of the

MARIE L. HOLLENBOCK AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Watercolor, 15" x 30"

©Carmella Tuliszewski

Color Testing and other things

Color Testing

I was honored to recieve the M. Graham Award for my painting "Lemoncello"

at this years Pennsylvania Watercolor Society International Exhibition.

While getting any award at these very competitive shows is cause for a happy dance, 

I was not so sure about the actual gift that came with it.

M. Graham Watercolors? 

Never heard of them and I must admit I've become a bit of a W&N, Daniel Smith snob.

But the 18 tube set of professional watercolors was valued at $300.00 

so I thought I should give them a chance.

I went to work on my chart for these little beauties.

I was told they were nice and bright  (right up my alley),

which they seem to be.

An ingrdient in these paints is honey which enhances their pigments.

I was warned, however, that because of this is you lay them on too thickly they never dry.

More experimenting in order before I actually use them.

For now I will place a piece of opaque tape over one side of each color and sit the chart in a sunny window for a few days to test their lightfastness.

Any fugitive colors will get the boot.

I'll be back to let you know the results.

Over the summer I recieved my certificate as a Signature Member in the Northwest Watercolor Society.

It proudly hangs on my studio wall.

I was away from my table for a few months.

This was my first painting when I finally got back at it in July.

Felt a bit rusty on this one but it was a helpful process.

Then I was ready for my first large painting in quite a while.

"Bridal Bouquet", Watercolor 20" x 20"

©Carmella tuliszewski

My daughter's bridal bouquet of peonies in soft shades of pink with lavander shadows. The bouquet lays on top of one of the gold charger plates used at her reception with a single flower from a table setting. The lace band around the stem was cut from my own wedding dress and the lace in the background was made over a hundred years ago by my Italian grandmother. 
All in all a true labor of love and a gift for my daughter.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see what I've been up to.

Catching Up

I have been so neglectful of this blog.

Three months since my last entry!

First, my weekend in New York for The American Watercolor Society Show.

Words cannot describe how surreal it was to see my painting in that room with so many painters I've admired ever since beginning this life as a watercolorists five years ago.

But there I was.

Such an impressive venue!  The Salmugundi Club is the last remaining brownstone 

on Fifth Avenue in the Union Square neighborhood.

                   

I had the pleasure of meeting Antonio Masi and Judi Betts, whom I had also met in New Orleans for the LWS show last year.  

And enjoyed dinner while sitting next to Carole Pickle, a Juror of Awards, sharing stories 

of our career's ups and downs.

All very inspiring and an event I will never forget.

Thanks AWS!

And before catching my train to New York I recieved an email which began 

Congratulations! We are very happy to inform you that your painting, 
"Ripples", has been selected for publication in North Light Books' Splash 18: Value | Light + Dark edited by Rachel Rubin Wolf.

Just plain crazy that this is happening. I am so honored and very excited!

I am also very proud to have my most recent painting, "Lemoncello"

accepted into the 2016 Pennsylvania Watercolor Society International Exhibit 

to open this summer.  

Thank you PWS, cant wait to attend the opening and see the show!

My daughter was married on Saturday to a young man we have come to think of as a member of the family for quite some time now.

Behind the scenes of all the preparations for the big day, Christine asked me to do 20 illustrations representing the buildings from her college campus where she and Brad met.

The drawings were used at the wedding as table markers with coordinated escort cards.

Other than this drawing project I have not done any painting in almost three months, yikes!

Time to get back to business.

Christine has asked me to do a painting of her wedding boquet, so that's what I'll start with, 

hoping I haven't gotten too rusty.

If you stuck around to the end of this entry I thank you!

The newlyweds

Our grandson's first birthday party.

Northwest Watercolor Society

I learned this week that my painting "Glimmerglass" was accepted into

The Northwest Watercolor Society 76th International Exhibition.

56 paintings choosen out of 400 entries.

I am so honored.

With this acceptance I will also earn my Signature Membership Status

with the NWWS.

"Glimmerglass" Watercolor, 15" x 30"

©Carmella Tuliszewski

Larry and I traveled out to Seattle for last years show and had a great time 

with all the convention activities and sightseeing.

We won't be able to make it for this years show in April.

My daughter is getting married this Spring and since we are already set to spend a

 weekend in New York for the AWS show, our time is limited.

But it's a wonderful organization and we do hope to make it back there someday and even have dreams of tagging an Alaskan Cruise into the trip.

For now I am working a new flower painting and think I will finish it today.

All the while cooking up some ideas for my next big still life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lemoncello

"Lemoncello" is finally complete.

I've spent the past month on this working on and off (mostly off :)

and it did give me some trouble in parts.

"Lemoncello"

Watercolor, 18" x 24"

©Carmella Tuliszewski

The shadows on the yellow cloth became "dingy" looking very quickly.

I even considered walking away at one point.

But after a little color play I found that it was fixable by glazing over my violet shadows 

with various golds and oranges.

Calmed it all right down.

Also after finishing the glass globes in the foreground the fabric 

fell into place with the rest of the scene.

Speaking of the glass globes.. my first time painting these little beauties and what fun it was!

Some are more transparent than others which was interesting to depict. 

Because I shot this scene in my front driveway, you can see bits of my front porch and sky 

reflected in a few of them.

The carafe of Limoncello was something else entirely.

many colors from the surrounding bottles bounced off all the complex convex 

shapes making for a challenging process.

But I kept in mind my puzzel theory 

in that its about placing shapes side by side and it kept me going.

"Glimmerglass"

Watercolor,  15" x 30"

©Carmella Tuliszewski

I never paint the same scene twice, mostly because I thought I would get bored.

But I was so wrong.  

These colors and that fabric deserved a second look and I learned so much 

more about color and value by following through.

Well for now my bottle collection will go back in my dining room windows.

I think flowers would be a nice change of pace for the next painting.

Thank you for stopping by!

"Lemoncello" and "Ripples"

I made good use of the recent snow storm by spending time on my newest painting.

So great to have a nice long stretch to concentrate.

How crazy are all these colors?! 

But that's why I chose it.

"Lemoncello", watercolor, 18" x 24"

Work in Progress

©Carmella Tuliszewski

The colors and shapes bounce all around to each other.

This is my first time painting my new hand blown glass globes and the refractions inside each is daunting but fabulous to decipher.

I picked the dish up while on a trip to Italy three years ago.

Now to the cloth.

Adding shadow to yellows is difficult because they can become "dirty" looking very quickly.

It has taken many glazes to get it this far and I think I will let it be for now.

Color reacts to it's surroundings.

I need to see the cloth in relation to all the other objects to judge what the next step 

should be before I overwork it.

When I was a middle school art teacher I loved teaching color theory.

I brought out my prisms and flashed spectrums around the room,

used handprinted cards to demonstrate simultaneous contrast, 

and taught how to create depth with color values.  

I learned alot in those days, things I forgot I knew.

And as a result I understand and adore color.

I may over saturate my paintings but it's intentional and maybe not for everyone.

But for now it makes me happy every time I sit at my table.

All dressed up and ready for it's trip to New York!

I picked up my painting for the American Watercolor Show today from my framer.

I cut my own mats and sometimes restore vintage frames for my pieces but I thought this more modern looking work needed a fresh new frame.

The silver compliments the predominately cool color scheme.

Overall size is 30"x 34"

Well back to Grandmom duties, wedding planning and 

hopefully a little painting!

A New Year

I have been very neglectful of this blog page!

But I'm here now to catch up a little.

December was filled with busy and fun family life

and January is shaping up the same way.

Sometimes life gets in the way of painting and that's just fine 

with me because I know how fortunate I am to have these happy distractions.

But I digress

My cartoon family returned this year with the new addition of my 8 month old grandson.

A family photo from Christmas Eve.

I am still working on my painting "Lemoncello" although progress will be slow this month.

I am looking after my grandson three days a week while my daughter in law 

temporarily returns to work.

And I am busy with all my daughter's bridal shower, wedding plans and new home purchase,

all fast approaching this Spring! Yikes!

Here are Larry and I this past New Years Eve 

out in Philly enjoying the fireworks, dinner and lots of champagne.

And I got the best news this week!

"Ripples", Watercolor,  20" x 22"

©Carmella tuliszewski

My painting "Ripples" has been accepted into the 

American Watercolor Society’s 149th Annual International Exhibition 

to be held in the historic 

Salmagundi Club in New York City April 4-23.

I have submitted to this most coveted of shows the past two years to no avail.

And although the pieces I submitted were juried into other very respected exhibits, 

it still stung to not break through in this one.

This is a highlight of my career and I am just thrilled.

I will post about the process and dinner/ reception in New York in April.

The best of Happy New Years to you all!