Jack Hames, Plein Air Watercolors

I am a hobbyist painter whose day job confines me indoors, so my landscape art shares the transforming experience of being outdoors in California. Most of my paintings are completed plein air to capture that ecstatic moment.
Because I grew up around oil painting, my use of watercolors includes gouache to achieve some of the opacity of oils.
My art instruction comes from family and courses at the Chico Art Center with Sal Casa. I follow the counsel of my maternal grandmother (my first art instructor) to stop a painting before it is “finished,” leaving it less formal and inviting the viewer to join in its completion. Your perceptions and memories are the final touch.
I look forward to sharing these paintings during your visit.