About

   Compromise - 3 Views of Jug Handle State Reserve, Mendocino Coast, California        

watercolor on paper, 9” X 6”, each panel

I’m pleased that you have found your way to my pages of watercolors on the internet.      I hope you enjoy looking.

I've had a passion for art, and have been driven to creative expression, drawing, painting and building for as long as I can remember.  For the most, part I am self-taught in art and watercolor painting.  Yet, I am drawn to that medium to form stronger connections with scenes that make me feel something, to compose and render subjects in a way that, to me, express their essential character, and to indulge in the emotions that seem to evolve from my experiences, to give form to my visions of them, to somehow evoke, recreate or recapture the sensation of having been there, to enter into the scene and desire to go beyond.

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Paul Majka

Pfeiffer Beach

Being outdoors is very important to me. An afternoon at the beach, a walk along the coast or following trail in the mountains may relax or invigorate me but usually seems to fortify me to meet the challenges of daily life.  Watercolors let me capture such sensations to experience again and often. 

Beginning with an emotional experience brought on by something I’ve seen, if I’m fortunate enough to have paper and brushes with me, I try to capture the essence of the place and time to strengthen my connection with what so attracted my attention, in an attempt to be able to again later evoke some semblance of the original experience.  And, painting from life, in my case, leads to unpredictable results as I focus on certain elements of the scene before me, they take on altered proportions and colors than my photos of the same subjects -- such works certainly are different than paintings done entirely in my atelier. 

Landscapes, like these to the left, each painted on location, are fruits of some of those times. Sometimes, I get more ambitious and only capture the composition and some of the color and complete the work in my atelier, as below.

Braving the Surf

Lake Tanaya

Point Bonita

Nha Trang Bay

Plein Air

Snap Shots

Sentier des Sabliers

Wandering with a camera with me helps me to record moments for later, but not being a very good photographer, I use the images to compose scenes that that I was unable to quite capture in my lens, that more closely resemble what I might have seen and evoke feelings that I recall having been there.  I used to do this mentally, with spliced prints and collages, now digitally.  Then again to form connections, I turn to watercolors give form to my visions.

The images to the left became the triptych composition above and works shown below are from photos taken on location, then composed and completed entirely in my studio.

Hills of Orr

Photos for Compromise

The Facts

Californian, 1948-

University of California at Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Bachelor of Architecture

Université de Paris VII, Urban Studies

Watercolor Atelier in San Francisco, California

Giclée (pronounced "jhee-clay") is a term derived from the French verb "gicler" meaning "to squirt, spurt, or spray and is used to describe the process of making fine art prints from a digital source using ink-jet printing. The term is often used in museums, galleries, and print shops to denote the highest quality and standards in fine art reproduction.

Our giclées are printed with archival inks on 13” X 19” textured surface watercolor paper (140 Lb, 310 gsm,100 % cotton with a matt premium-inkjet coating that permits high quality printing.

Giclée

Click on the images on these pages to see enlargements and details.
To acquire an original work or a limited edition giclée, please contact me.