My Art
Jill Erickson Watercolors
"I marvel when I behold anything filled with light and color. I never heedlessly glance at anything. Growing up in New Mexico, the rugged beauty of the Southwest around me never went unnoticed. But when I moved with my husband and children up to the Pacific Northwest, I felt like I had been re-born green!
Up in Washington State, I fell in love with the European Master painters when I started teaching. I volunteered to manage and teach a very successful art docent program at our neighborhood elementary school. After our kids grew up and moved away, I found a set of unused student grade watercolors and some cheap watercolor paper in the home craft drawer. I painted a small piece and shared it with a friend, who is a marvelous painter. She in turn gave me one of her own palettes, good watercolor paper and some brushes to see what I could do with some quality materials. And things took off from there.
I work in transparent watercolors on paper and I'm known for my use of vibrant color. I love rich, luscious pigments and I love knowing how the paints work together to create glowing, luminous subjects and landscapes. Watercolor's translucence is beautifully effective for me and I strive to create paintings that are colorful and light filled-that will make the viewer marvel in the way that I marveled when I first beheld the subject.
I paint in a realistic representational style and I simply want to paint something lovely. I want to elicit a sigh because the image is enchanting , or it reminds someone of something beautiful that they have seen or experienced themselves. This experience spans across people of all ages and cultures, no matter how diverse. I think there is a trend nowadays that artwork needs to be edgy or confusing or political to be effective. But a peaceful, beautiful image has its place and can be just as effective. One that causes someone to relax and linger nearby just a little bit longer. A piece that brings someone joy. This seems right for any public setting!"
-Jill Erickson
