Here is a great way to explore compositions on a mini scale while also getting some Holiday chores done… Painting your own Holiday Cards. All you will need is a box of watercolor cards - watercolor weight paper so that they don’t buckle once you add your paint and water - and your paints, some masking tape and 5-10 minutes per card.

Rayograph, 2025, Katie Turner, watercolor, ink on paper, after Man Ray. This week I was excited to read about an American artist named Man Ray (1890-1976).  The Met Museum has a special exhibition of his work through February 2026.  He spent a lot of time in Paris and made significant contributions to Surrealist and Dada movements.  His greatest accomplishment was the elevation of photography as works of art through his experimentation. 

Exploration, watercolor by K. Turner Creating can be such a personal process. Painting isn’t just the process of revealing an image but the process often reveals something to the artist as well. Painting is a means of self-enlightenment and self-discovery. When I paint, there may not even be a direction I’ve chosen but as I work I recall a visual memory or a distant experience that has come alive in the painting process.

painting grid sheet by KTurner Here we are heading into the Fall season. I hope everyone had a peaceful summer and is eager for the change of season. I enjoy working on large paintings. Actually the larger the better for me but I thought I’d try a change. It’s not my usual way but I tried working up from a set of small studies to larger sizes.

New Industry, watercolor, Katie Turner There are only about two weeks left to view the Central New York Watercolor Society’s 2025 Annual Members Only Juried Exhibition at LeMoyne College. Linda Woken was the Juror of Selection and Awards.  Show organizers and handlers being: Kathleen Guthrie, Pam Lynch and Karen Harris.  The show ends on August 15, 2025.  For hours and location of the Wilson Gallery, click here:  …

Isaiah, 2025, Katie Turner, Iridescent watercolor on black watercolor paper, after Marc Chagall I have a very large and heavy art book I’ve been waiting to read until now. It’s filled with beautiful full page prints of Chagall’s stained glass windows. The book, Chagall: The Stained Glass Windows” by Sylvie Forestier, Nathalie Hazan-Brunet, Dominique Jarrasse, Benoit Marq, Meret Meyer(Chagall’s granddaughter) with contributions by Hortense Lyon.

"String of Boats", 2025, Katie Turner, watercolor and gouache on paper, after Alfred Wallis. Naive art is considered outsider art, which I’ve written about before in some of my earlier posts. Typically an artist working in this style has little or no formal training or degrees. The Naive art is characterized by simplicity of technique or vision or execution but definitely has a child-like quality to it.

Sure, drawing a line seems like a simple thing, but as an artist it can mean so much in our process. There are many different types of line and mark-making with as many corresponding emotions and messages. A blog post I wrote in November 2020 “Three Kinds of Line” gave a teaser of three line drawing exercises.  There are many different ways to express lines that could provide an artist hours of fun.  

Spring is here, summer is around the corner and whether I’m outside for exercise, demonstrations or relaxation, I try to bring my art supplies along. When I prepare a travel bag I often struggle with the desire to bring every art supply from my studio. I’ve figured out now what my bare necessities are. The pictures above show some of my favorite traveling watercolor paint palettes.

Against The Rules, 1983, Katie Turner, Watercolor, After Helen Frankenthaler “There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is all about.” – Helen Frankenthaler: “Helen Frankenthaler Foundation – Biography.” Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, 2015 At 23 years old, Helen Frankenthaler created Ed Winston’s Tropical Gardens…

As a sprawling new exhibit opens in two museums in Amsterdam, the German artist fears that history is repeating itself.

Untitled, 2019, Katie Turner, mixed media, after Firelei Báez. Firelei Báez is a Dominican Republic born, New York City based artist with an inspiring piece of art at the Met Museum titled Olamina (How do we learn to love each other while we are embattled). Báez is known for her intricate works on paper and canvas and large scale sculpture.

William Edmondson was the first African American to receive a solo exhibition at MoMA (1937). He was self-taught and some consider his work to be primitive. It’s amazing to think of how he developed his artistic abilities despite the restrictions placed upon him. Edmondson was born in 1874 on the Compton Plantation in Davidson County, Tennessee to parents, Orange and Jane Edmondson who had previously been enslaved before they worked as sharecroppers.

Sketchbook page by Katie Turner, watercolor, Chinese ink. Sketchbook page by Katie Turner, watercolor, Chinese ink. Happy New Year to you. It seems like the holidays from November through January were a whirlwind full of friends, family and fun. Now I might just be pausing long enough to catch my breath. Celebrating New Year’s Eve is always fun for me. I enjoy watching the events in NYC on TV which remind me of the exciting years I worked in Manhattan so long ago.

New Industry, Katie Turner, watercolor, 23x30, 2024 Every year the ISEA (International Society of Experimental Artists) offer artists from around the world the opportunity to enter an online juried exhibition. My painting, “New Industry” 23”x30” watercolor was accepted into it - the 6th Annual Exhibition which opened Nov. 15, 2024. For this painting I had experimented by painting with square plastic cards rather than brushes.