Exploring Watercolor and Gouache: How My Art Is Evolving

For most of my artistic life, oil painting has been my primary medium. I still love oils and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. There is something special about working on a larger canvas, building up layers of paint, and watching a painting come together over time.

“Dwelling Place” Oil on 30×40 Gallery-Wrapped Canvas

That said, art has a way of evolving, and over the last couple of years I have found myself exploring new materials and new ways of creating.

About two years ago, my parents gifted me a set of watercolors. At the time, I had very little experience with watercolor painting, but I had been wanting to give it a try. They sat in my studio unused for at least six months. What started as simple experimentation quickly became something I genuinely enjoyed. Watercolor challenged me in ways that oils never had. It taught me to loosen up, embrace imperfections, and work with the paint instead of trying to control every detail.

One of my first watercolor paintings

Since then, watercolor has become a regular part of my creative practice. Many of my recent bookmarks, postcards, and small works have been created using watercolor. I have especially enjoyed painting florals, botanicals, insects, birds, and other nature-inspired subjects.

More recently, I have started experimenting with gouache. I am still very much in the learning phase, but I have enjoyed discovering the similarities and differences between gouache, watercolor, and oils. In some ways, gouache feels familiar because it can be reactivated with water like watercolor. In other ways, its opacity reminds me of working with oils. I am still figuring out how I want to use it, but I have enjoyed the process so far and look forward to creating more gouache paintings in the future.

Gouache Study Inspired by Artist Kate Jarvik Birch

I have also been spending time experimenting with mixed media and collage art. This is another area where I am learning as I go, but I find the possibilities exciting. I hope to share some new mixed media pieces on my website in the coming months.

While my work has expanded into watercolor, gouache, and mixed media, my relationship with oil painting is far from over. My interests and style are simply evolving. Many of my past oil paintings focus on landscapes, seascapes, buildings, and other structures. Lately, I have been spending more time working on oil portraits.

One of the biggest recent changes is the launch of my Etsy shop. Although I have had an Etsy account for many years, I only recently decided to open a shop and begin offering some of my smaller handmade items for sale.

The shop currently includes original hand-painted bookmarks and postcard collections, with additional items being added regularly. In the future, I plan to add notecards, artist trading cards (ATCs), miniature paintings, and other small-format original artwork. As the year progresses, I also plan to offer seasonal and holiday items, including printed Christmas cards, ornaments, and other giftable artwork.

If you would like to browse the shop, you can visit it here:

https://alliejacksonart.etsy.com

Thank you to everyone who has followed along as my art continues to grow and change. I appreciate your support and encouragement. And I am excited to see where this creative journey leads next.

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Can I submit the same painting to multiple exhibitions simultaneously?

I only recently started submitting my work to art or gallery exhibitions and I ran into a situation I was unsure of, so I thought I would chime in for people who may also be new to showing their artwork.

There were two exhibitions I felt one particular painting might do well in. I was holding off on entering it into the second exhibition until hearing from the first one about whether it was chosen.

Everything I had read online in the art community and on blogs suggested entering the same painting to two shows that run simultaniously is a big no-no!

So when the deadline to enter the second show hit and I still hadn’t heard from the first exhibition, I decided not to enter it into the second show.

Unfortunately, the day after submitting a different piece of art into the second show, I received an email from the first exhibition saying my art was not selected, which means it would have been available to show at the second gallery.

I was a little bummed since I felt my chances of it being chosen by the second exhibition were higher, but on the other hand, I began to question what protocol is for this.

Can you enter the same piece of art into multiple shows simultaniously? What if more than one exhibition accepts it? Then what?

Is it unethical to show a piece of art in more than one show, at different times?

While it seems everyone has a different opinion on these topics, here’s what I’ve determined works best for me.

I only enter a particular piece of art to one show at a time. If the art is chosen by multiple shows that run simultaniously, then I figure I’m potentially burning a bridge with the gallery shows I decide to pull out of.

In fact, pull your chosen art from a show or a gallery multiple times and you may gain a negative reputation of being an unreliable artist.

It’s better to scan the internet for potential shows to enter, and then create a piece specifically for an exhibition.

If it’s not chosen, don’t fret. There’s always other shows you can enter.

I see nothing wrong with showing the same piece in multiple shows, so long as the guidelines of each show allow it and the times don’t overlap. It’s important to read the fine print to make sure you’re adhering to all the rules when you enter a piece of art into a show.

I hope this helps clarify a few things for people who are new to submitting their art to gallery shows.

Do you have a different opinion? Would love to hear your thoughts!! Feel free to comment below.

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