Watermedia Works: Dialogos Ephēmeros

Statement

One definition of intuitive includes words like feeling and instinct. These terms are mildly interpretive, and who can argue with artists who “feel” their way through paintings. My definition of intuitive painting is beginning the work without any preliminary thoughts or plans for a particular object or subject as an end, but rather starting on a blank substrate, making marks with a variety of tools, creating a library of design elements and applying design principles until a personal aesthetic is achieved. I do not use any external reference.

Marks are mostly random early on, but sometimes lines or shapes of thoughts occur during the process. Many of these are repetitive, my archetypes. It is not uncommon to find vague human anatomy, non-specific animals, interiors, buildings, furniture, vessels, surreal botanicals, automobiles/parts and a multitude of objects I have found interesting over the span of a lifetime. Some of these shapes may look familiar but are ambiguous enough to allow the viewer a personal narrative. This may be intentional or not on my part. I prefer mystery and intrigue over the obvious.

As paintings progress, more elements including color are introduced. These are random at first but as the process continues a shift towards design takes place. A dominant color temperature may emerge, or a glaze might unify colors beneath it. Values can shift to dominant light, mid or dark. Elements are enhanced, obscured or covered up. There may be multiple layers and quite often evidence of the beginning will peek through. I use a variety of tools to apply pigment or remove it in varying degrees. These tools include brushes, palette knives, scrapers, sticks, sandpaper, my hands, my fingernails and more. Gradually principles such as rhythm, harmony, unity, pattern, gradient, conflict, dominance, contrast, balance, repetition, alternation and movement coalesce into a composition I find esthetically pleasing.

It is one thing to make a pretty picture with good composition, but quite another to bring the viewer into a painting by such means and hold their attention with content. My objective is to evoke a pleasing visceral response from the viewer.

"There's a complex simplicity in Stan Kurth's paintings that is both paradoxical and straightforward. As he works with multiple layers of watercolor and gesso, his provocative images emerge. Ambiguity and form coalesce into a singular, cohesive vision that holds the viewer spellbound"

Betsy Dillard Stroud - Watercolor Masters and Legends: Secrets, Stories and Techniques from 34 Visionary Artists

About

"Artist and workshop instructor Stan Kurth has drawn and painted most of his life. An aunt, who was an artist and art instructor, became a big influence even before he began school. Stan lives with the conviction of “fear not” and that same attitude permeates not just his life but his art. His focus and dedication to his work have earned him signature member status in several watercolor societies including the National Watercolor Society, San Diego Watercolor Society and the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies - Master. He currently lives in Arizona."

Some Artist Blogs

1150 Words

One last painted pair – for now - Mount Rundle watercolour card ©2024 Charlene Brown This is the mountain as seen from the old highway just west of Banff – a location frequently used by t...
8 hours ago
Make Her Sky

Square Spoons, Ty Pawb, and Vocal Recording - Two very full days, I'm feeling overwhelmed and need to pause. The tracks for the new Fall in Green album are now finalised, there will be 15, though 8 l...
1 day ago
Haunted Room

Echo and Innuendo - Echo and Innuendo Apx. 28”x 36” Acrylic/canvas
3 weeks ago
Jim's Watercolor Digest

Kalamazoo to Port Huron -
2 months ago
Margaret Stermer-Cox

WSO Show Time: “When The Music Begins” - I am pleased to announce that my painting When The Music Begins was selected for the Watercolor Society of Oregon’s Fall Exhibition (WSO). My congratulat...
2 months ago
*UmaVagaIdeia*

'estética incidental' - copyright DeniseScaramai
6 months ago
ACUARELAS FLOR ESTÉBANEZ

España, Badajoz, Jerez de los Caballeros - Jerez de los Caballeros (Badajoz)
9 months ago
Sandy Maudlin

You’re invited to our art show -
1 year ago
Visual Conversation

- "Sisters Three" is an abstract oil painting with three obvious female figures. There are other "sisters" in the rocky background. This piece was orga...
1 year ago
Daily Drawings

Marble Garden: floral oil painting - Had so much fun painting this explosion of flowers. Marble Garden is available in the shop.
1 year ago
Marielartwork • ζωγραφική

40 χρόνια δημιουργίας! - Καλώς σας βρίσκω πάλι! Στις 10 Οκτωβρίου του 1982 επέστρεψα στην Αθήνα αμέσως μετά τις σπουδές μου στο Παρίσι. Στο τέλος του ιδίου μήνα είχα ήδη οργανώσ...
2 years ago
DEB WARD ART

SHOWS IN OHIO AND INDIANA - My painting "Red Swirls" has been accepted into the WSI Annual Juried Exhibit, held at Indianapolis Museum of Art (Newfields), 4000 N. Michigan Road, Ind...
2 years ago
Jacqui Dodds Art

Printmakers Pushing the Boundaries, exhibition at the Qube Oswestry - This exhibition and project was one of the highlights of 2021 for our Printmakers Pushing the Boundaries group of Printmakers. We are a group of six...
2 years ago
irreverent art

Glamour/30’s style - We draw from old films on some Sundays,this is From “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, Albert Hitchcock we draw from old movies every other Sunday. This is f...
3 years ago
MAGGIE RULEY, pottery, painting and life in Key West Florida

This feed has moved and will be deleted soon. Please update your subscription now. - The publisher is using a new address for their RSS feed. Please update your feed reader to use this new URL: *http://maggieruley.blogspot.com/feeds/posts...
4 years ago
Carol Jessen's Watercolor World

Virus - As many of you know, I came to Apalachicola, Florida on Dec. 21. I painted two paintings before I developed some serious health problems. I'll spare you...
4 years ago
Carolyn M. Abrams

Spring 2020....a new normal - Hello art friends! Our current life situation has brought us to a place of new and renewed time and space to explore simple things in our lives that we may...
4 years ago
Watercolor Muse

Paint and Draw together #85 Challenge - Bird in tree Watercolor on Arches 300# 4x6 Hello There! it's raining and cold outside so I decided to do a watercolor painting from the paint and draw ...
4 years ago
The Colorist

Medal Awarded to Klahn - Davenport, WA artist Casey Klahn was awarded the Master's Circle status from the International Association of Pastel Societies, June 8th, 2019. The awa...
5 years ago
Eva Macie ~ A Creative Life

Handmade Art Journals - Art Journals made like the one in the above picture are relatively new to me. I started taking some online classes and I am really enjoying the proces...
5 years ago
Antonio Requena Solera

- Rosa roja, blanca , roja , en el jarron...AL MAL TIEMPO...
5 years ago
Creativity Journey

REINSPIRED!! - CUP SERIES #1 CUP SERIES #2 CUP SERIES #3 Add caption I am starting to hold semi-private lessons in my studio on the variations theme. I have the luxury ...
5 years ago
joan coch

- demo in fabriano by joan coch.
5 years ago
Blue Sky Dreaming

First Becomes Last - mixed media,9 3"x3" canvas, gold leaf, wire, crystals, assorted cloth and machine stitching. This was the first image on this blog waaay back in 2008. Fun...
5 years ago
jorgetejera

- "Maple" - 0leo sobre tabla / 46 c. x 42 cm. / Primavea de 2018
6 years ago
Drawings and Paintings

Quick sketch - Just a small quick sketch with 2b pencil on cartridge paper.
6 years ago
Liv Sørvaag

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6 years ago
True Adventures of an Art Addict

I've Moved! - This is just a reminder, in case you're still following me on the blogger feed, that I have moved to a new website and blog. I hope you will follow me...
6 years ago
A SPLENDID ADVENTURE

Hello - Well, I sure have been absent. And to be honest I'm not sure if I should continue this blog. I've been here before, I've asked this same question. I'm n...
6 years ago
Tonya Vollertsen
My Slice of Art and Life

- just playing around trying to figure out where I can upload my photos from. this is an old mixed media piece, 22x30, for an invitational show entitled Ta...
6 years ago
An Artist's Journey

Art Immersion / Workshop - Do you wish you painted better? Are you looking to hone your skills as an artist? How about an Art Immersion! *What is that specifically? * It is plun...
7 years ago
paintings

California Workshop-- Folsom CA June 12 - 14, 2017 - Watercolor Workshop Folsom, CA June 12 - 14, 2017 Contact: http://www.cawatercolorworkshops.com/carol-carter-folsom-ca-june-2017/
7 years ago
layers

New Obsessions - Instagram image by Donna Watson book: In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki I was so surprised when I came to blogger to write a new blog post, an...
7 years ago
Dan's Canvas

Hello out there.. - Hi folks (if anyone is still out there)! It's been a long time - I know. No excuses. Well, a few. One of them is I've been working awfully hard at the...
7 years ago
Painting On

Compositions in Time - What a summer I had! In my summer studio in Duntara, a small community on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, I work almost exclusively in reclaimed woo...
7 years ago
Art Propelled

A MINDFUL MODE OF STILLNESS - *"What amazes me about landscape, landscape recalls you into a mindful mode of stillness, solitude, and silence where you can truly receive time." - Joh...
8 years ago
Arting Around in SOVA

It's Been a While - *Playing without a Full Keyboard*, oil, 24x18 I finally completed a painting, thanks to a deadline--I had committed to a group exhibit last year and was ...
8 years ago
Doug Braithwaite Art

Wet Paint and Eatin' Crow! - Ya ever wake up with a song in your head? I do every single morning. I went to bed last night watching a video of John Denver and Cass Elliott singing “...
8 years ago
textures shapes and color

The Relics - *My grandmother ruffles through a box of material* *that smells of mothballs. 4X4 squares* *of old curtains, denims, dresses, ties, scarves.* *Anything th...
8 years ago
M.E. BAILEY ART

On Becoming "Good" . . . - "Cadaques Evening" Watercolor 18 x 24 inches A question comes frequently from workshop participants that I find difficult to answer in more than a single...
8 years ago
Neurobics: Keeping the Mind Active

Explorations in Photography: Black and White - A few weeks back, the weekly photo challenge in Ricky Tims' class was Black and White. We took photos and transformed them to black and white using Lightr...
8 years ago
Mein Welt

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8 years ago
CREALINELIJNEN

Ready !! - Oil on canvas
8 years ago
A R T I T

Moving out............ - Hello and goodbye. I have been pondering this for a long time. I have been on blogger for over 7 years and loved the wonderful community I have found here,...
9 years ago
Johannes Baul, Aquarelle, Pastelle,

Birke im Herbst - Aquarell 36 x 48 cm
9 years ago
Don's Blog

What a Wonderful World - This past Saturday I had the opportunity to paint live in Downtown Summerlin for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Las Vegas Chapter. I was paintin...
9 years ago
KLANDESTINA1

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9 years ago
Treffinger Daily

Call of the Selkie - "Call of the Selkie", 24"x24", Oil on masonite, $900 I f you are interested in purchasing this painting please contact me at katherine@katherinetreffinge...
9 years ago
PAPERWERKS

Another "Happy" - My house looks like an explosion in a paper factory -- especially since while I am tearing and cutting away for collages I won't throw any paper out, no m...
10 years ago
paradise des marocaines

una rotonda .... non so dove e - Come deficile nella vita arrivare in una rotonda dove non sai quale la strada giuta che devi prendre e avere paura d andare in una strada senza uscita ... ...
10 years ago
juan carlos eberhardt

- tecnica mixta 100 x 70
10 years ago
Art of Evrard de Caqueray

Pêche à pied et à patte - Marée basse début février à Dinard Bretagne.
10 years ago
nouvelles coleurs

"I NATT" The EBOOK of Alberto Oliver - When sensitivity, skill and commitment meet each other, it comes out marvelous works. The love and the bond with a city that "wraps" him with heart, becom...
11 years ago
Katharine A. Cartwright Studio

Complementarity - *Complementarity* by Katharine A .Cartwright watercolor, 26" x 20" Last month, I was reading a book about Niels Bohr and came across a short discussion of...
11 years ago
Daily Paintings - by - Abstract - Impressionist Painter - Dana Chabino

Pear - 2013 Pear 10x8 Oil on Canvas Panel I hope that you all like pears, there are more coming soon! Thank you all for your comments :)
11 years ago
skizo

hole in the sky -
11 years ago
Donna Iona Drozda...

Following the Moon: Renewing the Heart - [image: Step 1: Paper mache covers guitar] paper mache skin on half-size guitar I send all best to you as we wind down this mysterious time of the natural ...
11 years ago
tachisme

Some landscapes - Recollections of Tooms Lake Hi everyone. I've just returned from a lengthy summer vacation during which time i didn't paint a scrap and neither did i, reg...
11 years ago
beth nash

- 24x30 inch liquid and open acrylic on wood panel in process, January 2013 It has been over a year since I posted but I was finally able to post on my blo...
11 years ago
From Forensic to Fine Art

Gracious Gretchen - *"Gretchen"* 20x16 oil on gallery wrapped canvas I've been painting but was not satisfied with anything that I thought was post worthy. How excited was I...
11 years ago
PAUL KASMIR

paulkasmir -
12 years ago
Li

uma velha agenda - *my old calendar* rascunhos e estudos numa velha agenda do Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. sketches and studies in an old calendar of Metropolitan Museum o...
12 years ago
Four Seasons in a Life

Fifth of May adventures in Hipstaland - I have not abandoned painting, rather I have been exploring a new tool most of us carry around but not necessarily think of as a camera, as it is an iPho...
12 years ago
Water Soluble

Don't Forget to Play - Watercolor is a wonderful medium for giving the artist gifts; they've often been called "divine accidents". Taking advantage of these gifts adds magical en...
12 years ago
A Creative Life

lace wedding dresses - LACE WEDDING DRESSES Beautiful elegant cheap lace wedding dress save you 60% to 70% money. All tailor-made lace wedding dresses are cheap and affordable wi...
12 years ago
Art and Painting by Cathy Hegman

- Thanksgiving….comes early Posted on October 22, 2011 by Cathy S. Hegman Today, finally after several weeks of being lost in the chaos of life, I find my m...
13 years ago
Creative Edge

Stock Car is Done - I was going through my blog this morning and see that I completely forgot to update this site on the completion of my '57 Chevy Swanson stock car. Having...
13 years ago
Robert Burridge Blog

Bob Introduces The NEW 'Painting Glass' Studio Chart! - Introducing the latest Burridge Studio Chart: Painting the Illusion of Glass Vessels. Imagine having all on one page, every reference you’ll need to help ...
13 years ago
thirty-times-three

Kraken Up - It's WAY past due for me to update this thing! I've been really busy getting ready for graduation, but I've made a lot of awesome things for Etsy! And I'm ...
13 years ago
Nicola Moir Art

Watsons Bay Californian Bugalow - Watson Bay Californian Bungalow Watercolour on Arches Paper 75cm x 56cm
14 years ago
MAKING ART AGAIN

And another in progress - revisiting the pottery pitchers - When preparing these uncommon views of my common objects, I take many, sometimes a hundred, photos of them in the strong fleeting morning light. Of course...
14 years ago
A Casting of Stones

moment 02 || thinking of magritte - —in a manner of speaking that is. I always admired René Magritte's intentions behind the infamous painting: "Ceci n'est pas une pomme"— Google the keywords...
14 years ago
DJ's Studio

Perfection or Completeness... - Sometimes, in an artist's life, perfection rears its ugly head. It appears to most of us at one time or another in our lives, and to an artist, it can be ...
15 years ago
MY DAILY PAPER AND PAINT

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An Artist Journal - At a Glance

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Bohemian Shadows

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paintingsandworksonpaper

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Karen Thompson Riehm

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Larabee and Liza

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Watermedia Works

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Dialogos Ephēmeros

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Some Artist Blogs