Blog
Trail Riders – Painting of the Week
Let the Background Set the Mood
Trail Riders brings back so many memories. That sultry day, my girls and I were out in Big Sky Montana. There wasn’t a lot of chatter, we just enjoyed riding together. The imperfectly-perfect background in Trail Riders made this painting, which started with one imperfectly perfect background. The simply suggesting fallen tree trunks separated the hill from the ground. Cobalt Green dominates the palette infused with slight variations of Yellow Green, Turquoise and Violet.
During my BFA year at Minnesota State University -Moorhead, Tim Ray instructed me to pay more attention to the backgrounds in my portraits. Portrait backgrounds are especially difficult as you can easily ruin a beautiful job with one quick wash. I had developed a severe case of “Fear of the Background”. Simplicity is the most powerful, but often takes considerable thought, and there are a fun variety of ways to do this. Similarly, my mother helped me with piano and mentioned “often the easiest parts of music are the most difficult”. Backgrounds now help me add considerable beauty to my paintings.
Sincerely,
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P.S. The 66th Midwestern Invitational Exhibition of Fine Art opens next week, June 18-September 1st, 2024
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Embroidered Floral has an active background that connects the lyrical floral shapes with some calligraphic pencil lines. It’s also available as a Giclée
Abstraction and Color Transitions
A Watermedia Workshop June 18-20, 2025 10 am to 3:30 pm
With Instructor Ellen Jean Diederich TWSA, RRWS, WSA, WW
Class is from 10:00AM to 3:30PM with a one-hour lunch | at J’s Catering: 1404 33rd Street S Unit D, Fargo, ND 58103
It’s less than one week away from my workshop. In this live class, we have a screen to allow you to paint along with me during my demonstrations. Loosen up with these wonderful techniques you can use to bring your subject matter to life. Ellen will send a welcome letter with more information when you sign up.
LEARN MORE or SIGN UP
DOWNLOAD PDF & REGISTRATION FORM
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