Beth Thomson’s Paintings - #2

Continuing with my homage to my mother’s paintings as well as her many multi-media arts and crafts creations, this posting is all about her watercolors, something that she seemed to really focus on in her latter years…

To begin, these first 3 paintings were among her earliest watercolors...probably from the late 1940s or early 1950s.  

I have no idea when she created these 2 very impressionistic watercolors...both featuring flowers and/or other vegetation.  

As with her oil paintings, Beth loved to paint flowers. These style of impressionistic watercolors are among her grandson David's favorites... 

You are right!  This is not a painting... Mom loved photography too and I have hundreds of her old photos.  They frequently provided a basis for future paintings...

This is a perfect example of the symbiotic relationship between her photos and her art...

This whimsical painting includes some colorful little mushrooms or toadstools...

...and then there are the paintings that are beyond my limited artistic imagination!  

This series of watercolors are all about the forests, foliage and greenery.  Our son and his family in Omaha have many of his grandmother's paintings on display throughout their home.  

These little paintings featuring people, including a mother and her daughters, are a departure for her usual watercolor subjects, but Laurie and I love them.  Laurie especially relates to the hair styles in the first one as she worked for many years as a hairdresser...

...yet another photo leading to a painting.

Mom's impression of pebbles in a stream...

 These paintings continue with her usual theme or subject...nature interpreted in art.  

Sorry for the glare in so many of these paintings. The glass protects them but it also makes them harder to photograph.  

This certainly isn't a great photo but it is one of the more meaningful paintings from my perspective.  Mom painted this for me because it was one of my favorite views near her home in the countryside near Concord Michigan.  This valley is in the upper reaches of the Grand River...

I do believe that I see caterpillars in this second painting...a whimsical touch.

Love the fall leafs and with the rocks...

These last 3 paintings were among the last ones that she did.  The style is much different, because as was her tendency, her desire to try something different, albeit a painting style or different artistic medium meant that she was always in a learning mode.

There will be two more posts about my mom's art work.  The next one will focus on multi-media efforts including weaving, pottery and 'crafty' creations.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a 'gallery tour'!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave