Artist BJ Dollahite at Work

Just in time for the holidays, local artist BJ Dollahite has graced our walls with a new collection of her stunning artwork.  Drawing inspiration from the beauty of San Juan Island, BJ has found her passion in Watercolor Collage. 

After moving to the island in 1998, BJ studied with her close friend and mentor, 89-year-old Eleanor Prosser, until Eleanor's death a few years ago.  Eleanor taught BJ the unique technique that had taken her over 35 years to perfect.

To create one of these amazing pieces of art, BJ goes on location around the island and uses colored pencils or pastels to capture the composition, colors and light of a setting.  She also takes photos for reference.

Back in the studio, she works in stages.  The underpainting is applied in color washes of transparent watercolors, either on 300-pound cold press paper or on stretched canvas.  This is also her basic composition as she lays out shapes and colors.  Then she tears and paints hand-made rice papers, letting them dry on racks. 

Once the papers are dry, she starts layering and glazing on color, sometimes leaving the under painting exposed and adding leaves, seaweed, or other found objects for additional texture.  This is what gives her pieces such great organic feel and depth.   The final stage is layering in darks and a transparent UV gel, which she paints on to protect the watercolor from fading.

In any piece, there could easily be 50 to 100 layers, each hand-torn and placed to add just the right color and shape.  It's a time-consuming process, which is why her works take weeks to complete.  But each piece is richly textured, the fluidity of the watercolors adding a luminous quality that evokes

Sunset Trail 36" x 48"

ethereal beauty.  
 

As BJ says, "My work is exciting and unpredictable and the possibilities are endless.  I am never quite sure where this process will take me and for me it's about letting go and letting the materials and the inspiration guide me."

Feel free to stroll our restaurant to see all of her works next time you dine.  If you'd like to see more, her work is featured at Gallery San Juan, just around the corner at 232 A Street, #6.