Watercolor Week

All this week the Daily Palette will be celebrating some of our favorite watercolor artists from across the state.

RANDI MACKEY
Waiting, transparent watercolor, 16" x 10", May 2015

Randi has lived in a rural setting most of her life.  She is comforted by the rural rhythm and she enjoys receiving daily inspiration from nature.  She graduated from Nettleton Business College and initially set out on a career in business.  She progressed into the technology field and found that the creative atmosphere and ever-changing pace was what inspired her.  Randi obtained a BAS in Organizational Management from Westmar University later in life.  It wasn't until she was considering retirement that she realized art, her real dream, had been pushed to the back burner.  Randi now exhibits and sells her artwork nationally and has won Grand Champion and first place awards at local shows.  She has been commissioned to do several paintings for private collections.  Randi is a Signature Member of the Iowa Watercolor Society and she is currently active at Le Mars Arts Center in Le Mars, Iowa where she teaches art and serves as a board member.

Randi writes about her art:  "First and foremost my talent is a gift from God.  My first memory of loving art was a large two-sided desk my dad made for my sister and me, with a large camera-type spindle holding butcher paper.  I painted my first watercolor in 1976 and I was hooked.  I painted off and on for fun during the next 28 years, mostly not painting at all.  In 2004, when my oldest daughter told me one of her fondest memories of growing up was watching me paint, I decided to take it seriously.  I enjoy watercolor over other mediums because it has that intriguing transparent quality and can be a bit illusive.  The mingling technique, where the colors are applied directly to the paper side by side so they mingle together rather than being pre-mixed, is my preferred method.  I just like to paint and hope my work brightens someone's day and encourages someone to develop their own gift."

Randi Mackey's website