{"id":48947,"date":"2016-07-08T18:28:05","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T22:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.com\/?p=48947"},"modified":"2016-09-13T16:50:17","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T20:50:17","slug":"renee-leone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/2016\/renee-leone\/","title":{"rendered":"Watercolors of the United States: Renee Leone’s Paintings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Renee<\/a><\/p>\n

Renee Leone<\/a>\u2019s perfect world is a natural one. \u201cI love landscapes and vast panoramic views and being able to see to the horizon,\u201d the Chicago-based painter says. \u201cBeing outside with nature invigorates me and truly inspires me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happily for the rest of us, Renee translates that inspiration into vibrant watercolors<\/a>. Her geometric yet playful renderings of everything from redwood forests<\/a> to desert cacti<\/a> to urban seasides<\/a> delight viewers \u2014 which is exactly why Renee creates. \u201cI love hearing from people who have purchased or admire my work, and having them tell me they enjoy it,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I see art that moves me, it\u2019s a very cool feeling. I love knowing that my work does that for other people.\u201d She colors in the rest of her story for us.<\/p>\n

\"Drawing<\/a>

Desert Cacti of the Southwest<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(left) and \u00a0Renee’s filing drawers (right)<\/p><\/div>\n

When did you first realize you were an artist?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve loved art since I was a child and won awards in elementary school for my art. I always had this feeling inside I was very creative and artistic, although I didn\u2019t really think I was good enough to be an artist. My self doubt kept me from pursuing a creative field. But I couldn\u2019t shake the fact that I needed to do something more creative, and I wanted to learn to \u201creally\u201d draw. [After earning my bachelor\u2019s in communications], I enrolled in design school. When I finally did learn to draw technically, I realized this is truly what I should be doing and I couldn\u2019t believe it took me so long to realize I was an artist and needed to follow this path.<\/p>\n

\"PicMonkey<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How do you typically begin your nature pieces?<\/strong>
\nFor the U.S. Regional Trees series<\/a>, coming up with the images was one of the preliminary steps. I did a lot of research in the libraries, outdoors, in the parks, traveling, and on site. I started with small 4×6-inch pencil sketches of locations that I thought were significant, visually interesting, and meaningful to me \u2014 places that exhibited trees in all their glory. I put notes and reminders on my sketches as to important points \u2014 colors, identifying factors that I wanted to recall while painting. I also added a little color pencil palette to indicate colors and tones. I wanted distinctive trees that could still manage to be captured more abstractly. Once the sketches were compiled and I liked where they were headed, I drew the images larger and in pen and ink on heavyweight, smooth hot press watercolor paper, adding those same important notes in pencil, right on the watercolor paper itself. After that, I began to add watercolor.<\/p>\n

\"redwood_resized\"<\/a>

Redwoods of the West Coast<\/em> by Renee Leone<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

What is the painting process itself like?<\/strong>
\nThe pieces start with intended colors and shapes, though things may change as they develop and I see colors next to one another. I often even break up spaces with more lines as I draw. The pieces take a long time to paint \u2014 sometimes it feels like I am doing a 10,000 piece puzzle! Though, honestly, I can\u2019t usually stop once I start the piece.<\/p>\n

\"AspensinProgress<\/a>

Aspens of the Rocky Mountains<\/em> by Renee Leone<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

I like to separate every shape with a different shade or tone of color to create a very interesting, detailed mosaic with depth and dimension. It\u2019s hard to know when to stop. I often leave the piece on my mantel for a few days to see what else needs to be done or added or changed. I like coming in the house and seeing it right there with fresh eyes, I can usually tell right away what I like and don\u2019t like, what needs to be added or if it\u2019s finished.<\/p>\n

How do you make the gicl\u00e9e prints once you\u2019ve completed the image?<\/strong>
\nThe watercolor is professionally scanned and printed using museum quality, archival inks on museum quality, archival fine art paper. The gicl\u00e9e prints are personally numbered, titled and signed in Chicago by me, and then shipped to Oregon for professional framing. I learned of gicl\u00e9e printmaking from my art-collecting father. I knew right away that this was the perfect medium that allowed me to share my unique views with others.<\/p>\n

\"Maples<\/a>

Maples of the North Atlantic<\/em> by Renee Leone<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

When you\u2019re stuck creatively, where do you go for inspiration?<\/strong>
\nTypically, I need to get out! Really, just outside, in touch with nature \u2014 on a walk or bike ride in the woods, or my hometown, along our lakefront, or a state or national park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Living in the Midwest, I just love driving away from the homes and buildings to the dense green-forested areas and the wide open spaces. Seeing the farmlands, the waterways, scattered trees, and finding that horizon line in nature rejuvenates me and seems to literally clear my head and just lift me up.<\/p>\n

\"StarvedRock

Some of the nature that’s inspired Renee’s work<\/p><\/div>\n

Can you recall a particularly touching reaction to your work?<\/strong>
\nMight sound kind of silly, but my biggest thrill is when my kids tell me they really like a particular piece I\u2019m working on. Or, if I read something they write about me in a paper at school, I think it\u2019s really cool that they enjoy seeing me work and that they think of me as an artist.<\/p>\n

\"See<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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