“Is that watercolor?” is a question Julie Ronning Talbot often hears from people viewing her work. They are surprised by the vibrant color and the precise details well as the look of her finished paintings, many of which are done on watercolor paper gallery wrapped on stretcher bars, and coated with an archival varnish requiring no mat or glass. This is a great look for Sedona where all those windows make glare a problem with glass.
Transparent watercolor continues to fascinate Talbot as she peruses a variety of favorite subjects from Old trucks and tractors to the amazing critters and vivid cactus blossoms of our area. Portraying the rust of old farm equipment is as interesting and challenging as making a blossom fresh enough to smell.
“I work from a careful drawing,” says Talbot, “often using a magnifying glass to see all the details of my photo. I analyze the structure of each object because accuracy is important to me and, usually to my viewers. Men, especially, want the trucks to be an accurate representation of their memories. The fun comes in dropping color into a wet area such as a fender or a flower petal and letting the paint do the work, often employing surface tension and tilting the painting to make the paint flow and settle where I want it .I usually let the colors blend on the paper rather than mixing a lot of color on the palette .It gives a fresher look.”
Julie has been the delighted recipient of numerous awards in The Northern Arizona Watercolor Society, the Sedona Art Center, and most recently, First Place in the Sedona Visual Artists Coalition First Annual Juried Show. Especially pleasing have been two People’s Choice awards.
