Inspired by our trip to Esperance W.A. I loved how the ocean colours changed from frosted mint green foam, to deep turquoise, ultramarine, silvery grey and shimmering lavender. It was fascinating.
The area beaches are breathtaking in the rain, clouds and bright sun, amazing and definitely an Australia highlight for artists, sketchers, backpackers, photographers.
Inspired by the frosted mint
green of the incoming wave, I chose cobalt teal watercolour in the Daniel Smith range.
The paper I selected was a full sheet 22×30 inch very rough Indian Village that lent itself to the textural granulations of Cobalt Teal. The granulation texture would help to infer the water and foam action of the wave. Monochromatic, with a great deal of light tonal input where the incoming wave/foam are coming in at.
The soft edges were deliberate. No hard edges to act as a gated barrier or stand in the way of the viewer being led into the image. I find the foam has a very soft edged quality to it I wanted to enhance, not detract from.
Also quite unconventionally, was the way the painting is presented. It is ‘touchable’ to the viewer. Quite the opposite of what watercolorists would normally ever do. But with the specific rough type paper chosen, I wanted viewers to be able to feel the image. It is also mounted up above the matt board about 1.5 inches to add to the sculptural look and feel of the piece.
debi riley 
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