Hi everyone! Thank you for joining me.

My life with watercolor has been a tumultuous one as a self-taught artist. Watercolor is unique in how water and pigment interact on paper – the way colors build and create unexpected surprises. It can be a challenge too … like Woody says in Toy Story, “That’s not flying, that’s falling with style!”

My dad taught me the basics of watercolor in the best way his Swiss immigrant self could: “You make a drawing, you put in the colors, then you put in the shadows. … and it’s against the rules to use white.” He made great paintings and I would just sit and watch … and cry. 

It was like witchcraft. First when he made a drawing in perspective, then, he added the final shading the whole painting came to life.

I didn’t really try watercolor again until I was in my twenties. My wife, Beth, and I were financially strapped and had to get a wedding present. We didn’t want to waste money on another set of wooden salad spoons … so I tried doing a painting. I did what my dad said and it turned out pretty good! 30 years later, it is still on the bride and groom’s wall.

My dad was taught by his own father, who, in turn, learned from his uncle, Edmond Reuter. Turns out, Edmond was a professional artist who actually worked with (not for, apparently!) William Morris back in the early 1900s.

Life kept me occupied working as a Web Developer and being a father until the last couple of years during which I am focusing on improving my artistic skills and developing new techniques. I’m sure some of the techniques I knew may have become somewhat “diluted” over the generations and there are even more modern techniques that I look forward to discovering.

I call my site “Watercolor Reflections” because I do a lot of thinking while I paint. It’s one of those things that makes the hours pass like minutes as I spend time with my ancestors who I never knew, think about my offspring that I’ve yet to meet, and am grateful for the opportunities that led me to this time.

I hope this project will allow me to pass on some joy of painting and some of my “reflections” on what is ultimately true on paper and in life. I’ll also try to expand on my dad’s original watercolor instructions!