BLOOMINGBURG—Two watercolor artists have discovered the joy of doing art and along the way managed to make money doing it.
Janet Campbell and Mary McLaughlin of Bloomingburg have pursued their love of the art as mature adults, having first had another career or raised a family. They now have the time and means to work at something that fills their souls and gives them some cash.
They recognize this is the conundrum for today’s artists: how to support themselves doing what they love to do.
Watercolor Art
In watercolors paints are used for a translucent effect, and appear luminous because the pigments are laid down in a relatively pure form with few fillers obscuring the pigment colors. It takes years of practicing the technique to achieve the unique transparent quality that makes a great watercolor.
McLaughlin said she works in two ways. One approach involves lots of hard work. She does many studies of the subject. “It’s blood, sweat, and tears.” The other approach is relaxed, on location, and just for herself and her journals. Some subjects she “sits on” for years.
Nothing seems to work until she does what she calls her “inner work.” Her watercolor “Shelter” was this type. “Finally, I had opened up a place of shelter within myself and I could paint this.”
