Tea Garden – Barry™

Watercolor on stretched paper, 3’H x 4’W

Tea Garden is both a celebration of nature and a quiet rebellion against watercolor orthodoxy. While it draws on traditional subjects—koi pond, twisted branches, filtered light—it rejects fragile washes in favor of bold construction.

The process began with a rubber cement resist, preserving delicate highlights before the first pigment touched paper. From there, each hue was layered in ascending order of brightness: yellow first, followed by light oranges, greens, and blues. Each was protected in turn by fresh layers of resist until the darkest tones could finally emerge.

Only near the end does the brush return to instinct—no more masking, just flow. The final details? Applied with nearly undiluted pigment, bridging the world of watercolor and the intensity of acrylic. It’s a technique akin to Ansel Adams’ zone system—except here, instead of grayscale, we track saturation and light through fluid color.

This piece is 36″ x 48″ and has been digitally scanned at full resolution for archival-quality reproduction. It is available as a fine art giclée print upon request.