Two Barns

          Awhile ago, I did watercolor and pen and ink paintings of two antique Vermont barns.  They hung in our living room for quite a while where the colors faded dramatically from exposure to the light. When Jon and Sharon requested one of them for their new family room, I decided to see if I could restore it to its former state, took it out of the frame and started working.
          Well, it was a comedy of errors.  I think that the paper I used was some kind of bristol board.  It certainly was not watercolor paper because as soon as the watercolors hit the paper it started to buckle and the paint started to pond.  I struggled to control that and was successful but when I went to remove the masking tape from the roof, it started pulling off the old ink!  To say nothing of what the watercolors did to the grass lines which started to dissolve.  I walked away and the next day went back in with india ink marker and redrew the roof and grasses.  I decided that art restoration was not my forte but still and all, I am pleased with the results.

"Old Barn, Randolph, Vermont"

14" x 19" - watercolor and pen and ink

          I was so encouraged, I decided to take on the challenge of the second painting and found it went considerably more smoothly, mostly because this had been painted on watercolor paper....

"Liberty Hill Farm, Rochester, Vermont"

15" x 19" - watercolor and pen and ink

          The upshot of this experience is that I have basically fallen in love with old barns again!  I took myself out last week to shoot some photos and came home with several possibilities....