Talking with Caroline

I hope you have been enjoying the website.  It is more interactive than my old one.  Although it doesn't post blogs, feel free to write me with any questions or comments. And please – tell me of typos!  With the more casual approach, let me tell you a little more about myself as though we were just talking together.

Where I live is unusual. I have ended up on a small, non-ferry island in the San Juans, a group of islands as far as you can go to the northwest in the lower 48 states, tucked between the mainland and Vancouver Island, B.C. Our little island of just over 200 acres has acres of undisturbed wilderness, some summer cottages.  For most of the sixteen+ years we have lived there, my husband and I have been the only full-time residents.

     

Our life is a mix of  "normal" -- part of the power grid, phones, DSL -- and different. For example, we go to another island with our own boat for the mail or any shopping. We bring the groceries, or paintings, or guests in to a dock in our own boat and, if we don't walk, we bring them up to our house in 1944 military jeep. When we attend an evening event on Orcas or come back from a teaching on the mainland, we are crossing black water at night. Think stars and a phosphorescence instead of freeway traffic.

150 gallons is each property's daily limit of water from the island's wells.  We supplement this with a water catchment system of my husband's design. We cut, split, and stack the wood we burn. We rarely eat out but frequently prepare pretty elegant meals at home. I usually start the day with a latte and a book – in the hot tub on its own deck. While there, or while sipping a glass of wine on our deck before dinner, we can watch the eagles, ravens, deer and raccoons who are as much residents of this island as we. (note the "pinto" to the right!)

         

I first came to the San Juans to study with Rex Brandt. After my Oregon students encouraged me to offer a summer workshop in the Islands, I started teaching one every summer beginning in the mid-80's.  I found and purchased my piece of the Islands in 1989, and moved up in 1992.



That first winter my friend Jeffrey Unterschuetz, a builder, joined me. Jeffrey had taught me to solo sail a small sailboat while we were both in Oregon. It was with this boat I had explored the San Juan Islands and had found my spot on Obstruction Island. Despite no inside running water or, for a while, no electricity we started building a year-round compound. By the time we survived it that first winter – and had a home to show for it -- neither of us could imagine being here without the other. Jeffrey stayed and three years later we were married.

      

Jeffrey has continued to build – a shop for him, a studio for me (see the Jan. 09 Technique Corner), out-buildings, an addition on the main building, and projects for other property owners.  He maintains our boats and built a unique dock for them. 

 My favorite way of crossing (when it isn't blowing 30 knots) is in my Whitehall rowboat.  Then the trip is in the going. I enjoy the light on the water, reflections, the patterns of rocks, trees, and the ever-changing population of waterfowl. At times a seal or a soaring eagle joins the trip. The peace I find is part of who I am as an artist.

    

When did I start in watercolors? In a summer class the year I was fifteen. Some other vitae points: I graduated with honors in Art History from Wellesley College but taught several years of grade school instead of continuing in Art History.  I had three children and gradually became serious about learning watercolor. After a number of years of showing, selling and studying with teachers such as Ed Whitney, Rex Brandt, Millard Sheets, and Christopher Schink, I started teaching others watercolor.

Although I have sold paintings since the 70's and had many solo exhibitions as well as group and juried shows, I consider my career that of an art educator. Teaching combines my passion for watercolor with my background in both teaching and art history. In 1984 I received a masters’ degree in Teaching in Art from Western Oregon College.  I am honored to be a past president of the Watercolor Society of Oregon and a Signature Member of the Northwest Watercolor Society.

While in Oregon, I originally taught through the community college in Corvallis but gradually expanded to workshops throughout the Northwest and was particularly known for the Greek trips.
  From 1982 -2000  groups of artists and their friends accompanied me to the Greek Island to paint, a total of almost 1000 people: I learned to speak Greek, learned to love and honor the people and their culture. In addition we have had workshops in places such as Tahiti, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Provence, and Cornwall. I now limit my “overseas” trips to the San Juan Islands.





Don’t miss the article in the Spring ’97 Daniel Smith catalogue.*  In it I present my way of layering watercolor -- by separating them into stains, sedimentary and luminous pigments. Many have told me how much this approach has helped them with their painting.  And while there, check out the article on values.  American Artist's Watercolor Magazine has also had several articles. Now, my "articles" are the monthly technique offerings in the Technique corner on the home page -- don't miss that spot!

       

Well, that is probably more than you wanted to know.  But I must also mention my family -- two grown sons and a daughter. plus five delightful grandchildren. Our island is a special retreat to share with these families.  One wonders what their memories will be -- of mossy trails, giant foxgloves, singing as we walk up from the beach; the giant swing; rowing, fishing, driving and docking the runabout. And they will remember quiet moments in the hammock where they too know the peace of the islands, looking out over the western sea. 

        

* Oops.  I just reread the posting on the Daniel Smith site. The article is fine but the list of pigments is not correct.  Here is the list of the colors I use.

 Staining (Dye)  Color Choices:
Anthraquinoid Red or quin. red
(or Alizarin Crimson)
Cadmium Red medium
Perinone Orange
Cadmium Yellow Light  (or Hansa )
 Rich Green Gold
Thalo Green
Thalo Blue


Bi-functional (dye and luminous ) :
Quinacridone Gold
Quinacridone Burnt Orange
Quinacridone Rose
Quinacridone Red
Quinacridone Violet
Perinone Orange 
Rich Green Gold

Luminous Choices:
Aureolin (Cobalt Yellow)
Cobalt Blue 
Viridian Green

Sedimentary Color Choices:
Indian Red
Ultramarine Violet
Ultramarine Blue
Cerulean Blue
Cobalt Green
Cobalt Teal
plus any earth pigments  you enjoy!
.