#95 • Rie Muñoz "Swimming At Sandy Beach, Juneau" Original Watercolor Work-in-Progress c.1990s

Part of The Works of Rie Muñoz Art Auction (timed auction by Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals)

High bid $350.00

Status: Sold

Category: Art

An original work-in-progress by Alaska artist Rie Muñoz entitled "Swimming at Sandy Beach". The image illustrates a scene at Sandy Beach, across the channel from Juneau, which is a favorite dog-walking area the artist would visit frequently with her dog. A number of kids are playing upon a fallen log and in the shallow water below, along with a frolicking puppy. A fishing boat is across the channel, and the mountains extend high into the sky. The painting is accompanied by a note from the Rie Muñoz Gallery that reads "Swimming at Sandy Beach with trial composite sketch - Rie Muñoz would always carry her sketch book with her, even at the grocery store, in a specially woven pocket that she called her 'shoplifting pocket.' Of course she wouldn't dream of doing that, but Muñoz was always ready to do one of her 'field sketches' when she saw an interesting person or lively scene. If she decided to do a painting from one of her sketches she would start by drawing more detailed small composite sketches of the scene. The artist would do several, or many, of these sketches until she was happy with the composition. Rie would then take the finished composite sketch and, using an overhead projector, enlarge the scene on to [sic]her 300 lb. Arches watercolor paper, and pencil it in. Muñoz would then paint the scene using the pencil guide. This process might take a week for one of her medium sized paintings. With this large piece she did a full sized trial composite sketch first just to be sure." The tree remains unpainted, and the work shows a plethora of brush strokes testing the colors in the margins, particularly on the right side and in the corners. Titled in the artist's hand en verso as photographed. The work-in-progress is shrink-wrapped on board measuring approximately 16.25" x 22" with a sight view of 14.5" x 20.75". While undated, stylistically, the work aligns with the 1990s or early 2000s.