BRANDON — “With watercolor, the paint participates in the creative process — you don’t so much control it as collaborate with it.”
These words by Andrea Varney speak to the challenge of working in such a difficult medium. But this is a challenge Gayl M. Braisted, Lyn DuMoulin, Maurie Harrington, and Varney have all met and used to tell their own story. “Watercolors: The Artist’s Story” is an exhibit of collected works by these fine artists, open now and running through June 30at the Compass Music and Arts Center in Brandon.
Meet the artists during “Story Hour” on Sunday, May 25, at 2 p.m. Harrington, DuMoulin and Varney will share their stories, discuss their work, talk about techniques, and maybe even reveal a few secrets. Light refreshments will be served.
Braisted’s precision and attention to detail come from her many years creating architectural drawings while DuMoulin’s feature the scenes of her recreational summers where she moves “at warp speed” playing in the Adirondack Mountains and North Country. “From the natural world flow my paintings,” says DuMoulin, “I love to paint people, canoes, mountains and the black waters of the great North Country.” 
After working in pen and ink, Braisted moved to watercolors in hopes that it would free her style from the accurate, detail work required for architectural renderings. “I looked at the work of a few watercolorists I admired and found, alas, that I could be nearly as exacting and detailed as I am in pen and ink.”
“The Traveling Artist,” as Harrington is known, carries with her an artist’s perspective on the people and places she visits and paints. From the quiet, muted tones of soft flowers, to the vibrant blast of color displayed by the flashy set, Harrington uses a variety of techniques to convey and explore nature’s offerings.
Varney began painting in watercolor in 1993, conveying exacting detail of flowers, but after she nearly lost her life due to a drunk driver, she began to experiment. Knowing that “life is short, and can change in an instant” motivated her to take more chances with her art and to “create” in other ways. She abandoned her tiny brushes for fat ones, and used pigment and space more freely, filling her paintings with shapes, colors and vibrancy.
The Compass Music and Arts Center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and is located in Park Village at 333 Jones Drive in Brandon. For more information visit cmacvt.org