Hello,
and welcome to this blog about watercolour painting! My name is Mirjam Palosaari Eladhari. I am a researcher and lecturer in game design and artificial intelligence. I use watercolour painting as a way to relax and to recharge. For me, one part of the joy is that the activity itself is so forgiving in that it is so quick, and that in that I am allowed to fail as much as I want. If a little painting is ugly: so what, it only took 10 minutes to make, and I don't have to show it to anyone.
In my handbag, I keep a tiny pillbox with 6 half-pans of watercolour, and a water brush. Tucked into the notebook, a have small pieces of watercolour paper. With that, I can paint anywhere, if i have a moment for it. Such as on a flight, or waiting for a friend who is late.
At work, I too have colours, some brushes and paper. It is like magic to do a little bit of painting if i feel stuck in my thoughts, especially if I am programming, or if I am writing a paper. Ten minutes is all I need. As the brain shifts activities it is like somethings loosens up, and I can see new perspectives and solutions.
Even, some mornings, when things feel bleak, the thought that I will be able to paint for at least 15 minutes sometime during the day is enough to coax me out of bed.
I started dabbling with the watercolours in the summer of 2012. My husband and I had just moved from Sweden to Malta, and in one of the moving boxes I found my old painting materials, leftovers from...it must have been the art lessons in the gymnasium (equivalent of college/highschool). Despite having been untouched for more than 20 years, they were still usable.
I approach watercolour painting and sketching as the complete novice that I am. Some things are surprisingly easy to learn, other things one would need a decade to practise. That's OK. If the future holds years of painting and sketching practice - all the better! I never want this to end.
Welcome to the blog! Please feel free to comment and to share your thoughts.
Mirjam
PS. Here is a picture of my little travel set for watercolour painting on the fly! It is a pill box of metal. It has its little mixing space, and the metal of it sticks to the magnet in my handbag. This is especially handy if I am at a conference, listening in a chair and don't have anywhere to put anything. I just put the box on the handbag in my lap, hold the paper in my left hand, and the watercolour brush in the right one.
...and here is an example of a note from a conference: I write with a pen that has waterproof ink, so that it doesn't smudge:
and welcome to this blog about watercolour painting! My name is Mirjam Palosaari Eladhari. I am a researcher and lecturer in game design and artificial intelligence. I use watercolour painting as a way to relax and to recharge. For me, one part of the joy is that the activity itself is so forgiving in that it is so quick, and that in that I am allowed to fail as much as I want. If a little painting is ugly: so what, it only took 10 minutes to make, and I don't have to show it to anyone.
In my handbag, I keep a tiny pillbox with 6 half-pans of watercolour, and a water brush. Tucked into the notebook, a have small pieces of watercolour paper. With that, I can paint anywhere, if i have a moment for it. Such as on a flight, or waiting for a friend who is late.
At work, I too have colours, some brushes and paper. It is like magic to do a little bit of painting if i feel stuck in my thoughts, especially if I am programming, or if I am writing a paper. Ten minutes is all I need. As the brain shifts activities it is like somethings loosens up, and I can see new perspectives and solutions.
Even, some mornings, when things feel bleak, the thought that I will be able to paint for at least 15 minutes sometime during the day is enough to coax me out of bed.
I started dabbling with the watercolours in the summer of 2012. My husband and I had just moved from Sweden to Malta, and in one of the moving boxes I found my old painting materials, leftovers from...it must have been the art lessons in the gymnasium (equivalent of college/highschool). Despite having been untouched for more than 20 years, they were still usable.
I approach watercolour painting and sketching as the complete novice that I am. Some things are surprisingly easy to learn, other things one would need a decade to practise. That's OK. If the future holds years of painting and sketching practice - all the better! I never want this to end.
Welcome to the blog! Please feel free to comment and to share your thoughts.
Mirjam
PS. Here is a picture of my little travel set for watercolour painting on the fly! It is a pill box of metal. It has its little mixing space, and the metal of it sticks to the magnet in my handbag. This is especially handy if I am at a conference, listening in a chair and don't have anywhere to put anything. I just put the box on the handbag in my lap, hold the paper in my left hand, and the watercolour brush in the right one.
...and here is an example of a note from a conference: I write with a pen that has waterproof ink, so that it doesn't smudge:
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