Cards have immediate and intimate associations, as I was born into a family of card sharks with the ace of hearts between my gums. The story goes that when I was three I was sitting on my mother’s lap as she played bridge. At a critical point in the game, I said with exasperation, "Why don’t you play your ace of spades?" (Of course, I was banned as a kibitzer.) My card paintings remind me of the fun we had in our heated card games. To convey that sense of excitement and joy, I pour or sometimes fling the paint; the explosive quality of the paint as it hits the paper represents those times perfectly.

When I decide on titles, I often use literary allusions. Mycroft was Sherlock Holmes’s older brother who liked to play gin rummy. At 40 x 60, Mycroft’s Glorious Gambit is oversized, and when I worked on this particular piece, the Arches cold-pressed sheet was lying flat. I knew I was going to pour paint, but I worked on a design before I actually separated the pigments into different jars.

First, I decided to save a large white shape and smaller white shapes, so that I’d have untouched areas on which to create the card shapes. I masked these shapes off with drafting tape and wax paper. I like using wax paper because it can leave an interesting, crinkled texture. Moreover, the paint sometimes leaks under the wax paper for really unusual and dramatic drips. (Remember that Leonardo da Vinci advised artists to look into mud puddles for inspiration!)

For Mycroft’s Glorious Gambit (watercolor on paper, 40 x 60), I worked with a limited palette of four colors: a warm yellow, permanent rose, phthalo blue, and indigo, which I separated into different jars. I then poured the paints onto the paper. As I poured, I lifted up the corners of the paper to encourage runs and diffusions. After the poured paints had dried, I developed the card shapes, putting my trompe-l’oeil training to good use. I also used a brush to paint other spots of pure, unmixed paint in varying intensities.

A signature member of the National Watercolor Society, Watercolor West and the Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Society, Catherine Anderson lives in Glen Ellen, California. Her painting Harbor Fog was chosen to be included in The Best of Flower Painting 2 (to be published by North Light Books).Visit her Web site at www.catherineanderson.net.