the work:
i enjoy the naturally delicate quality of watercolour.
as a process, it can be quite stressful in that mistakes are rarely fixable. too much caution results in weak colour effects while areas painted over too frequently appear dull and lifeless. what happens is therefore a dialogue between the conscious intentions of the artist and the unmediated accidents created by the paper and pigment. it can function as an image and also a record of the process.
while the catalogue of watercolour works is enormous with many examples that are hundreds of years old, still galleries are often reluctant to include this type of work preferring more substantial artifacts on canvas or wood, works that pose less of a problem for conservation.
– pat conway