Joseph Raffael!

Imagine my elation when I stepped into a gallery filled with huge Joseph Raffael watercolors! Today my art buddies and I drove up to see the exhibit at Soka University in Aliso Viejo, CA. The exhibit closes soon....April 15th to be exact. This is the artist who first inspired me to paint in watercolor back in the early 80's....I saw wild bits of color yet thoughtfully marked....wet into wet approaches with blooms! What a breakaway from the mediocre works I had seen before by other watercolor artists.

 What a glorious colorful experience it was.... as you can see I was dancing with joy. The only other time I've seen his work was in New York at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery.

 Here's  a detail from the blue background painting behind me "Blossoms and Sky" 54 1/4" x 89 1/4"........look at the incredible detail and  the color outlines of the shapes...reminiscent of Wayne Thiebaud's works.

This piece is called "Biography: Interior-Exterior, Exterior- Interior"   49 1/2" x 72 3/4". The painting also had incredible details in each inch of the work....small broken color brushstrokes with transparency and brilliance.