Barbara Nechis

Barbara is the artist who has graciously allowed us to use several of her wonderful watercolors on our site. The following is the introduction to her book "Watercolors From The Heart: techniques for painting the essence of nature"

Like a child with a coloring book, I have often gone "out of the lines," both on paper and in my own life. This book is for those who have likewise done so, and it is especially for those who have never done so and would like encouragement or permission. It is also about how I make a picture, how I choose or am chosen by the many influences around me, particularly those in nature.

Perhaps my experiences and methods will spark in you a new appreciation of how to use your unique self and your own influences to create pictures-and will enable you to gain a new awareness of the achievements of others.

I cannot teach you how to paint a tree or a mountain or a flower, because there are many kinds of these and many ways of painting each. I hope I can help you to become your own teacher and to find your own way. I can tell you that there are no perfect colors, no foolproof methods, no surefire ways to win awards or sell paintings, no magic brushes and, most disheartening of all, no formula for creating the perfect painting. I attempt to create something that pleases me in each of my paintings. The colors, methods, and forms are suggested by what the painting seems to need or wants to be.

We can all learn to see better, to paint what we already know even when we fear that we don't, to follow our hearts, and to discard formula and enjoy the creative process.

When I ask new students why they have selected my course, a significant number of them indicate that they want to "loosen up." Many have become bored with their work and with the restraints of exercises, rules, and routine. A smaller number come for a different reason: They want to add structure to their experimental work so that results will be due to competence rather than luck. Both groups find value in broadening their scope to include both approaches. Personal psychology should be the deciding factor as to which way of working should dominate for you.

My niche is not a compromise between the two practices. In my work I wholeheartedly embrace the balancing of control with flexibility in my thought process. To me this is an unbeatable combination that creates a sense of freedom while allowing the control that I need to make paintings with my own personal stamp. The breadth of my work comes from the directions I choose to follow, combined with the contributions made by water and paint when they are encouraged to do what they do best.

I concur with John Mann's evaluation of structure: it is the backbone of a good picture, and without structure (in the mind's eye) there can be no real creation.

My early paintings were the result of efforts to learn technique by imitating the strokes of my teachers and copying the landscape, flower, figure, or photograph in front of me. When the method of reproducing these objects became habitual, the challenge was gone. I began to experiment because I was bored. As soon as I became a beginner again, leaving behind the safe design patterns of others and seeking new ones, my interest returned. The successes became less frequent, but more satisfying.

My struggle to depart from my mentors taught me infinitely more than my imitative efforts. In the final analysis, if my work is to be remembered, it will be because it differed enough from others' to be recognized as mine, not because it resembled that of a teacher. I have precious memories of a time when I formed a dedication to art in my life and discovered my own way. This time was a greater gift to me than the techniques and formulas that I have long ago discarded.

"Watercolors From The Heart: techniques for painting the essence of nature" is available from the authors web site: barbaranechis.com