Everyone’s Hometown

Inspiration

In this case, Crossroads Arts Alliance, the local arts non-profit where I am on the Board of Directors, put out a call for art for the show Everyone’s Hometown. Inspired by the tagline of Haymarket, Virginia (where the gallery is located inside the Haymarket Museum), this exhibit explores artists’ deeply personal interpretations of what “hometown” means.

I consider Basking Ridge, New Jersey as my own hometown. However, I now live 250 miles away. That makes it difficult to obtain original reference photos for the concept that I envisioned.

Living very near Haymarket, I recognized gallery visitors would strongly connect with local landmarks. With that, I made a few trips to the center of Haymarket searching for scenes that caught my eye. The reason for several trips was initially about finding the right subject. Once that happened, I revisited several spots a few times to capture different shadows and dappled light as the sun crossed the sky and shone through the trees.

I’m drawn to old things that have their own stories. “Character” is a word that comes to mind.

Another quality I prioritized is color. That can be a challenge with older buildings as many are white. That was definitely the case here.

Ultimately, I chose two buildings. The first was Lane’s Motor Sales, an old stone and blue building on the main street. The other was St. Paul’s Episcopal Church which is brick and one of the oldest buildings in the county.

Materials

As these two pieces would be entered into the same show, I wanted to present them similarly. With that, I chose watercolor as my medium. While I used a variety pigments, I chose Daniel Smith’s PrimaTek line. These are the same paints I used for both Fallen Leaves and ‘Twas Talbott’s Tavern.

The primary reason I like these for buildings in particular is because they are made from ground minerals (read: rocks/stone). They also don’t stain the paper, and the artist can easily move them around the surface of the paper. All of these characteristics really help convey the irregular, natural features of masonry.

As I was working in watercolor, the paper I chose is Arches cold press (natural white, that is, it isn’t bleached). Considering that these two pieces would be shown together, I created both with similar dimensions. Lane’s Motor Sales is wide and low while the church is narrow and tall — emphasizing the dimension of each of the actual buildings.

Process

Once I transferred the drawings to the Arches paper, I then trimmed the paper and taped it securely to a Gatorfoam Board. From there, it was working in layers. I always begin by laying in large washes of color. This helps to harmonize the painting.

After the washes, I introduce areas of shadow and light. Note that this happens even before I consider the textures such as foliage, ground textures, or building materials.

At this point I begin adding lots of layers that help to define each object. In addition to adding layers, I also remove paint in particular sections to achieve the desired look. The process can be taxing, so this is another reason I choose the sturdy Arches paper as well as the mineral pigments. They are are sturdy.

I continue putting down and picking up paints for many, many layers until eventually the look I’ve sought has been achieved.

Working on the Lane’s painting, one of the final touches was the rust on the roof.

For the St. Paul’s painting, the finishing strokes used white paint to brighten some areas.

Framing

As I’ve already emphasized that these watercolors were designed together. With that thought in mind, the framing was designed in a similar fashion. While the mats and frames of each painting complement the artwork, the also both have white top mats with colored bottom mats. That helps to link these pieces together.

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned when discussing “Darn It,” a portrait doesn’t have to be a face. A portrait can be a collection of items telling a story about a family. In this case it is about buildings surviving to share the history of generations within an area.

To which buildings do you feel most connected? Are there buildings connected to your family history? Are they residential or commercial? What story do they tell?