Artist Statement

As a 30-year high school art teacher I had to be familiar with, and able to teach, a wide variety of media, so for my own work I decided to focus on one. Watercolor was my medium of choice about forty years ago, and I haven’t strayed too far. Early works ranged from still lifes to figures to landscape, and for a time my niche was in painting architecture. Eventually I began to explore organic subjects, and now am mostly inspired by nature, whether it’s fauna or flora. A move to Texas from Colorado many years ago was difficult, and for a number of years I found the Texas landscape to be underwhelming…where were the mountains?? Eventually I began to find beauty in the local landscape by learning to take a closer look.

Some of the work is based on my photographs, but others draw mostly from imagination or memory. The photographic work tends to be more realistic, while the imaginative veers toward abstraction, and sometimes whimsy. Subject matter ranges from seascapes to landscapes to plant and animal forms to figures, and favored techniques include creating textures various ways, negative painting, and wet-in-wet. I chose watercolor because I love how it looks, and I admire both complete control of the medium, as well as wild spontaneity.

I haven’t strayed far from watercolor, but have certainly experimented with a variety of media. Drawing is such an important skill to master, and can be the first step in a watercolor, but also as an end unto itself. Ink and graphite are the mediums I most enjoy for drawing, and each year I participate in the world-wide phenomenon of Inktober. Another favorite medium is mixed media collage.

Probably the biggest departure has been paper weaving. I took an online class as a whim and ended up falling in love. The first thing I discovered was a love of paper. I was not familiar with several of the types of paper that are so wonderful to weave, like Chiyogami from Japan and Shizen from India. These papers are very strong, without being too thick, so they can be pushed and pulled and subjected to quite a bit of abuse in the weaving process.

The best discovery was learning to repurpose old or unfinished watercolors by weaving them with commercial or handmade papers. I have experimented extensively with other papers, from magazine, book, and calendar pages to vintage photographs to rice paper, but it’s been most satisfying to marry the love of paper with a lifelong practice of watercolor.

©Cynthia K. Reid, By The Pond, Watercolor, 15 x 11 inches