By TONY EVANS
For the Express
Beginning watercolor painters have to get the feel of pigment flowing in little streams, drying quickly and sometimes settling into unexpected results.
In 2003, Ginny Blakeslee Breen, who began painting with watercolors five years ago, showed her work for the first time and won a place in the Idaho Watercolor Society's traveling show. Today she is the society's traveling show coordinator, helping other artists gain recognition around the state. She has also shown her work at the Big Wood Artist Gallery in Ketchum.
"I love to create. I love the color, the movement, the expression, the power, the learning, the uplifting," says the artist. "I hope this comes through in my work and stimulates others toward their own creations of individual art."
Breen's piece "Silver Cord" won two awards in the watercolor society's 2005 Annual Juried Show: the Jack Richeson Materials Award and a Corporate Purchase Award from the Finch and Broadbent law firm in Boise. Currently she is showing at Heritage, in Tacoma, Wash., and at the gallery in Piazza di Vino in Boise.
"Silver Cord" won for its unexpected and powerful effects resulting from a gesso-type process Breen devised by pouring watercolors over the surface.
"Sometimes you have to take risks and do something weird and maybe someone will love it," she says.
Like many painters, Breen is beginning to experiment with other mediums, including acrylics and oils.
"I especially like the oil paints, but I will never give up watercolors. They have a transparency that can be very pretty."
The Idaho Water Color Society's traveling show is making its way down from Coeur d'Alene and will hang at the Magic Valley Arts Council, 132 Main St. in Twin Falls, through Nov. 29.
For more information about the traveling show, contact Breen at ginny@rmci.net.
