((Left) Journal page by Jacqueline Newbold, (right) Orvieto by Jacqueline Newbold)
For Jacqueline Newbold, a watercolor and mixed media artist, adapting to the social distancing of the COVID-19 pandemic meant reviving her interest in a childhood hobby: bird watching. On trips to locales such as Mexico and South Africa, she was inspired to paint tje exotic birds she encountered and their natural surroundings. As a botany major in college, she had always loved science and felt “I sort of got back to my roots.” Wildflowers and vineyards also figure prominently in Jacqueline’s work, which is showcased at Red Chair Gallery in December.
When at home in Bend, Jacqueline often switches to creating dreamy Cascade Mountain vistas. But many scenes that Newbold paints come from her travels in Europe. She has taught watercolor workshops in France and Italy and is especially fond of Orvieto, an ancient hilltop town in the Umbria area of Italy. Last year, she taught a watercolor and mixed media workshop there and plans to give it again in May, 2023.
One of the skills she teaches in her workshop is journaling, which entails creating “a visual diary” of a travel experience in a notebook. In her journal pages, she writes about daily activities, inserts little watercolor scenes or pen and ink sketches, and sometimes includes other materials such as maps or photos of restaurant menus. She has completed over 40 journals of her own travels all over the world.
Jacqueline has created a DVD to aid artists on packing and preparation for a painting trip. She published a book entitled “Watercolor Journeys” and partnered with an art supply company to create a watercolor traveling kit.
Besides teaching her own classes, she will give courses at the Art & Soul Retreat scheduled for April in Portland. Sometimes she takes classes from other teachers at such a gathering. Recently, one class introduced her to a new material: Japanese masa paper. This is a soft white paper made from sulfite pulp. An artist soaks a piece in water, then crinkles it up, straightens it out and paints on it. “The wrinkles will still show and give it a textured look,” says Jacqueline, who is excited to be adding it to her work.
As the daughter of an Air Force officer stationed abroad, Jacqueline was born in Tokyo and lived in France and Greece as a child. She learned to speak fluent French from her Parisian mother. The family later moved back to the United States. After earning that BS in Botany from the University of Alabama, Jacqueline decided to explore the West and found work as a seasonal firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon. When that job ended, she came to Bend, where she landed a position as a lab technician for Bend Research for 18 years.
It was here in Bend that she took her first watercolor class. She began to paint seriously and sell her work in 2000 and has been a member of Red Chair Gallery since its founding 14 years ago. She is a member of the High Desert Art League and the Watercolor Society of Oregon.
If you are hankering to take a class with Jacqueline soon, she will be teaching a watercolor and mixed media session for Christmas cards on December 5 in Bend.