Portfolio / Patches

Patches by Richelle Cripe

Patch #1. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #1

8" x 8", Watercolor gouache on hot press, 2018

Patch #2. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #2

6" x 6", Watercolor gouache on hot press, 2018

Patch #4. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #4

8" x 8", Watercolor gouache on hot press, 2018

Patch #9. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #9

6.5" x 8", Watercolor on hot press, 2019

Patch #3. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe.

Patch #3

8" x 8", Watercolor on hot press, 2018

Patch #8. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #8

6" x 6", Watercolor on hot press, 2019

Patch #6. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #6

6" x 6", Watercolor on hot press, 2018

Patch #5. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #5

6" x 8", Watercolor gouache on hot press, 2018

Patch #7. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #7

8" x 8", Watercolor gouache on hot press, 2019

Patch #10. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #10

6" x 6", Watercolor on hot press, 2019

Patch #11. Watercolor painting by Richelle Cripe

Patch #11

8" x 8", Watercolor on hot press, 2019

About This Series: Patches

This series was born partly out of necessity, and partly through community inspiration. I was in a period of housing transition and didn’t have a physical space conducive to making large or messy paintings. During this time, I was also part of an art book club wherein we met once a month to talk about and create small pieces inspired by an art book. One of the first books, Water Paper Paint by Heather Smith Jones, was my incentive to pull out the long-forgotten watercolor supplies I’ve had sitting around for years.

Although painting without a large degree of abstraction is uncommon for me, my process for this series is overall very true to how I paint everything: I let my mind wander and build the composition as I go without thinking about it too much. I don’t do any sketching beforehand, or plan, or choose colors. I like to let the painting tell me what it needs.

The name “Patches” refers to flower patches/bits of garden space and is also a nod to the feminine tradition of floral embroidery and quilting patterns.