Featured Artwork: Sharyn Richey
Hartman Rocks
Last summer, when the heat of the Texas Big Bend area forced me north in search of cooler landscapes to paint, I found a large park full of wonderful rock formations near Gunnison, Colorado. With only one morning on the schedule to paint at that location I had to choose a scene quickly. Because these rocks felt similar to the hoodoo formations that I enjoy painting along the Rio Grande this watercolor came together rather easily.
Upon my return I decided to enter Hartman Rocks in the Annual Membership Show of the Watercolor Society of Houston where famed watercolorist Brienne Brown was the judge. I was delighted that she selected it for the “Director’s Award” noting that it was a fine example of traditional transparent watercoloring. She said that she appreciated the arrangement of shapes and a painting style that seemed both carefully studied and relaxed.
I have always felt most at home in the outdoors. I must have been born with a brush in my hand because that love of nature has always included an inclination to draw and paint it. When I was an art student at the University of Texas we spent much time painting in the nearby Hill Country. I have continued that practice throughout my life although I now prefer watercolor as my plein air medium and am now drawn to the desert landscape because of its fascinating ecosystem and deep history.
When weather or distance prevents my painting outdoors, I work in my studio where I do larger and more abstract work in acrylics. I feel that it is both the aesthetics that I gain from plein air painting and the rich experiences of my life (especially that of parish priest) that inform and inspire the studio work.
Please visit my website sharynrichey.com to see my finished works. In addition I maintain a Facebook page, Brightening Place: An Online Studio, where I share my creative process with spiritual reflections.
