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 High above the city of Phoenix, overlooking the vast valley floor that
is becoming increasingly reminiscent of Los Angeles, lives an artist
whose vision of the southwest is filled with dream like fantasies.
Gerry feels that watercolor is both an exciting and difficult medium.
She says, "I'm considered a 'purist' in the sense that I work from
light to dark, saving my white paper for the white passages I wish to
show in the image. I use two opaque whites. The majority of my watercolors
are started by totally wetting down the French made paper on both sides
and working quickly from wet to dry. It is a wet medium, and it should
have a wet appearance. I should have a wet, watery quality."
Gerry is a juried member of the Arizona Watercolor Association and
the Arizona Artist Guild. Her subject matter includes landscapes, seascapes
still lifes and florals. Her love is to take a subject and translate
it into flexible and willing to go with the flow of the medium. She is
a big imagination and likes to use it.
Creating the details of a picture takes the mind of a technician and
the vision of an artist. She paints the landscapes of the Southwest with
the ethereal quality that dominates her mental images of the landscapes
she has come to love and cherish.
Water color is an exciting medium. It requires quick decisions,
a sense of adventure and a great amount of flexibility... I love the
challenge this vibrant and transparent medium offers! I always try
to create something different and new that no one else has done.
No matter how many years I've been painting, I still get excited
when I start a new piece. Watercolor is a wet medium and should have
a wet appearance. I completely wet down the paper and 'float' the paint
on the surface. To increase the appearance of fluidity in my colors
I mix the colors on the paper. I love the depth that is achieved when
glaze is applied. Always a purist, I accept the challenge of 'saving'
the white paper for my whites and using no opaques to dull the vibrancy
of my paintings.
I grew up in Arizona and love to portray the west from it's
sparkling desert sands and canyons, the indian pueblos and cliff dwellings
to the aspen forests of the north.
-- Gerry Niskern
Prints Shown: Top Right - Cliff Moon, Bottom Left - Ancient Pots
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