Bob Cairone Watercolor Paintings

The Joy of Arctic Spring

One of my larger paintings, and the only artwork I've ever airbrushed. Not sure why I never did another one, as I rather enjoyed it. This image, scanned from a film photo, doesn't quite capture the look of the painting, as there were violet highlights in the underside of the clouds that gave a lot of dimension to the sky, and the water dripping off the Orca's back really glistened. Paintings in this media need to be protected from air and dust, but I don't like using Plexiglas as it crazes over time. So I put this piece behind glass. Thin glass of this size is hard to work with, and expensive, so the framing shop gave me a deal on a piece they had in the back. I didn't know it at the time, but it turns out the glass was defective, having irregularities across it's length. By accident, the wavier section of glass went against the water, and when you walked across the room, the waves almost looked like they were in motion. It was a subtle but magical effect.

This was the first painting I sold for a good amount of money. And for the longest time, my son wouldn't forgive me for selling it. Over the years I came to agree with him. Curiously, twenty years later, I got a call from the woman who bought this piece. She had to move and couldn't keep the painting. She found this website, read about my son's regret above, and we arranged for the picture to be returned to the family. My wife is also glad to have it. A very happy ending to the story.

Needless to say, I can't sell this painting ever again.

Collection of the artist.