Telephone: 803.767.5505

E-mail: reshleman@sc.rr.com

I especially enjoy creating nature compositions from photographs I take while traveling around the beautiful state of South Carolina. I strive to lure the viewer into wanting to “be there” in the painting to look for what is not obvious. My art includes representational, dream compositions, and some objective abstract. Having begun painting in traditional transparent watercolor, I mostly paint and create collage now on non-traditional surfaces using liquid and tube watercolor. Gouache, and acrylics.

The traditional approach to painting watercolor, acrylic, and mixed media is where I know what the composition will be before I begin the painting. It is predictable. However, many times the process begins with loosely pouring or rolling paint onto the paper or a polypropylene sheet (called Yupo), gently manipulating the paint to blend colors and make interesting textures, allowing the paint to dry, and developing the composition based on what the first layer suggests. This process allows me to combine imagined or suggested flora, fauna, insects, animals, and figures. Sometimes pieces begun with the pour method hang in my studio for weeks or months before they “speak” for development of the composition.

This approach to making art provides wonderful opportunities for happy accidents, flexibility to adjust the composition, and intrigue in the work.