Victoria Harrison shoots landscapes, then paints them.

Victoria Harrison captures detailed images of gardens and landscapes first with her camera, then with vibrant paints.

“I love to use really deep, strong colors, even when I use watercolors,” said Harrison, whose smile is as bright as the hues she favors. “I just need good strong color defining my priorities in my paintings.”

Harrison’s “Garden Pearls I” graces this year’s Bainbridge in Bloom poster, which commands attention from storefronts throughout Winslow Way. Shades of gold and yellow center the large white blooms of the Rock Rose, Cistus Lauriflolius, which Harrison photographed in her garden.

“I adore this plant,” she said. “The branches have at least a dozen blooms on them and they are spectacular. It’s a very large bloom.”

Harrison was ecstatic to learn her painting was chosen in the garden tour’s poster competition.

“I just didn’t have any idea,” she said. “A friend nudged me and encouraged me to enter it at the last minute.”

The original painting and an accompanying piece will be for sale on the garden tour’s preview night, July 14 (see box). The tour is open to the public July 15 and 16.

Harrison has been selling her art professionally for four years. She was doing other jobs and raising her two children prior to becoming a full-time painter. She and her family moved to the island from Bothell five years ago based, in part, on the Bainbridge Arts and Humanities Council’s publication, Arts News.

“There’s such a nurturing environment here on the island,” said Harrison, who has a degree in art from the University of California, Long Beach. “I was amazed by the number of artists.”

Harrison quickly plugged into the artistic pipeline, starting with Art Walks.

“I’ve done about seven of them. Those were great for me,” she said.

In addition, she has participated in workshops and studio tours and has photographed at almost every garden tour since she moved here.

Harrison shows original paintings and prints at several local galleries and recently was accepted into Bainbridge Arts & Crafts, where she’ll participate in three studio-type shows.

The last 18 months have brought a shift in Harrison’s work. She’s filling larger canvases now, which allows “a little bit more free-flowing style.”

“It’s a whole new territory for me,” she said. “I really pushed myself to follow my heart and my painting.”

Although she paints a variety of subject matters, Harrison favors gardens, landscapes and earthscapes.

“I love to take real close-up (photos) and paint them larger,” she said. “I have been a watercolor artist, but I switched to acrylics. They’re real creamy. I can paint faster and correct mistakes (and) be freer with my strokes and ideas. With watercolor, you can’t go back. It just catapulted my work.”

Another of Harrison’s goals is to do paintings she doesn’t have to frame. Glass is hard to transport, she said.

She transfers the images she photographs onto watercolor paper and adds layers of background paint she applies with a special cheesecloth technique. She then attaches the watercolor pages to wood frames that she can varnish. No framing or glass is involved, Harrison said. It acts like watercolor.

Harrison embraces her new style of art – witness a recent private commission that is 5 feet high and completely abstract.

“A large canvas shows better. It’s very expressive for me,” she said. “You paint standing up. It feels like you’re immersed in it.”

That said, Harrison hasn’t abandoned her mini works.

“The mini-canvas is faster and gives me a different satisfaction,” she said. “I like having the small pieces on a 5-by-7 panel. It allows me to use some of my photographs. I use a snippet and paint that scene. It provides a lower price-point item for someone who wants original art.”

Harrison relishes working in the art studio above her garage and the flower-filled garden it overlooks.

With an abundance of light from several windows, the room provides space for her computer, work tables, a painting-filled couch and supplies. Soft background music signals that she is out of the deep-thought process and into the creating phase.

“I need peace of mind and quiet for a couple of days,” she said. “I need to think. I have a good idea of what I want to work toward before I start. The music comes on when I’m actually painting.”

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Earthly delights

The 18th Annual Bainbridge in Bloom Garden Tour preview event is July 14. The public tour is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 15 and 16.

Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for children and $20 for Bike the Bloom. For more information see www.gardentour.info or call 219-3182.

The Bainbridge in Bloom poster – “Garden Pearls I” by Victoria Harrison – is available for $22, shipping included. Order it from the website or phone number above. Copies will be for sale from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the garden tour Festival Site at Bainbridge High School. Signed and unsigned 2006 posters and posters from previous years will be available.

See www.victoriaharrisonart.com.