Natural subjects in garden influence local artist's watercolors
We're all looking for signs of spring these days.
Messenger Public Library in North Aurora has brought spring inside this month on its art gallery wall, near the entrance to the children's library.
Watercolor artist Ann Schuster of Campton Township, who enjoys using her own garden and ponds in her works, is showing a dozen of her colorful "transparent watercolors" at the library.
"We have two ponds connected with a waterfall, and plenty of fish and frogs," Schuster said of her home surroundings.
She belongs to the Wayne and Batavia art leagues and enjoys her time with other open-air or "plein-air" artists.
"I have a lot of big blue containers and bottles that I take out into the yard. I hang them upside down on stakes and we paint them with the flowers," Schuster said.
One of her paintings in the library exhibit depicts parrot tulips from her garden.
"In this painting the tulips are much more ruffled than they really are," she explained. "I break with reality in a lot of my work."
Schuster said that one of the paintings in the collection uses the transparent watercolor technique in which you see color through color.
She sketched out white flowers on the paper and then layered background color everywhere but in the flowers.
"You can look at the leaves and see the color coming through the leaves," Schuster said. "If you wait, you can see the colors mixing themselves. To me it's fun and exciting, and you never know what you're going to get."
Schuster is sharing her transparent watercolor technique at Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, with beginning and intermediate classes beginning in April.
For the beginning class Schuster asks students to "bring a notebook and pencil and a smiley face … but don't buy any supplies yet."
"I use a limited palette and mix most of my colors. You don't need to buy all the colors in the store; you can make your own," she said.
Schuster has her students look at their work in a mirror when it is just over halfway complete to see if there are any mistakes.
"I have students cut out shapes and arrange them, then look at them in a mirror to see if they like it," she said.
Schuster's exhibit will be up at the library until April.
Fine Line Creative Arts Center is at 6N158 Crane Road in St. Charles, off Silver Glen Road, just west of Randall Road. Check out www.fineline.org or call (630) 584-9443 to register for Schuster's classes or more art classes at the school.