Kris Parins Blogs

Juried and Invitational Exhibits AWS American Watercolor Society Salmagundi Club, NYC, April 4-23, 2016 Qualified for Signature Status "Breakfast with Tiffanys" will receive the Fred E Albrecht Award and is included in the 2016-17 AWS Tra... 

Selected Juried and Invitational Exhibits: American Watercolor Society Travel Exhibition 2015-16 American Watercolor Society Annual Exhibition, New York, NY '13, '15 Birds in Art International Exhibition, Woodson Art Museum, Wausau WI 2014 W... 

Here is a list of the workshops and demonstrations I have coming up. Be sure to request a supply list when you register for one of my workshops. All of my workshops are geared to intermediate to advanced painters. Please feel free to email me at kris... 

What kind of references should I bring? Bring some images that you are excited about painting. Look for, or sketch, large simple shapes with good value patterns. Your painting plan should have mostly mid to dark values; light subjects require a lo... 

You have just spent hundreds of dollars on tuition for a workshop from an artist you admire. You may even have flown in and paid for a hotel for the week. So why would you risk the success of your experience by not bringing the items on the instructo... 

I admit at first I was more than a little skeptical. An email invitation to exhibit in an international exposition? What's the hitch? After checking with a couple of artist acquaintances who exhibit on the world stage, I felt confident enough in the ... 

It was time to paint, and I don't mean landscapes. Ten years of rearranging artwork had left our living room wall peppered with nail holes. After the time-consuming upheaval of spackling, sanding, and repainting, my dear husband commented, "What woul... 

Coming up with titles for my paintings is something I love to do. It broadens my creative enjoyment and gives me another important avenue for communicating my message to the viewer. However I realize that not every artist relishes that task, as evide... 

This series looks wonderful when framed together in the frame #444SLT, Top Mat: Arctic White, Bottom Mat: Mist. Print on Somerset Velvet paper to get the closest match to the original paintings. Painting in a series presents a unique set of creat... 

Back when I was first starting to mat and frame my work, every piece I did was a custom size. I cut my own mats and ordered a custom frame for each painting. While I enjoyed doing my own framing, this level of customization took a lot of time away fr... 

There are many valid reasons for purchasing a work of art: 1) Decoration: it matches the couch. 2) Investment: it might go up in value. 3) Image Enhancement: it shows you have great taste. 4) Altruism: it is important to support the arts. You can pro... 

Many of you who have taken my pouring workshop have tried mightily to get out of soaking, stretching, and stapling the watercolor paper. We just want to get on to the fun stuff, right? Finally I have found a good product that shortcuts the process: C... 

Framed works on paper need a mat to keep the surface of the art from touching the glass. To further protect an original, only acid-free mats should be used. The mat also serves to visually separate the painting from the adjoining background where it ...