Pansy

This week's flower is one that graces my window boxes from October to April every year.  The purple and yellow pansy is my favorite because of the great complementary colors and because they always look like they are smiling (squint your eyes and you'll see!)

As with the flowers of the past two weeks, Pansy 1 and Pansy 2 are part of a series of 4x4 mini paintings that are being offered to my blog, newsletter, and facebook readers for only $40.  Add a smile to any room by placing your wilt-free flower on a little easel.  Just send a note to me if you'd like to start a bouquet for yourself or for a special someone :)

Here's the photo I took of pansies in my window box:

And here's one of the smiling faces I focused on:

Cheers!

Pansy I, 4x4 Oil, Available for $40

And here's the companion piece.  See if you can find this one in the original photo above :)

Pansy 2, 4x4 Oil, Available for $40

Iris

This week's flower is one of my personal favorites... the iris.

As with last week's amaryllis, it is part of a series of 4x4 mini paintings that are being offered to my blog, newsletter, and facebook readers for only $40.  They make perfect gifts and add cheer to any room when placed on a little easel.  Just send a note to me if you'd like to start your wilt-free bouquet!

Here's the photo I took of irises at my mailbox:

I cropped the photo to emphasize the shape of this lovely blossom:

I had so much fun with this particular flower that I painted it twice:

Iris 2, 4x4 Oil, Available for $40

Iris 1, 4x4 Oil, SOLD

Amaryllis

For the next few weeks, I am going to send you flowers because, well, you deserve it!  As a new collector recently told me, "These are nicer than a dozen roses because they never wilt!"  

These flowers are part of a series of 4x4 mini paintings that are being offered for only $40.  They make perfect gifts (for you or someone special) and can be placed on a little easel to add cheer to any room.  This offer is reserved just for you and my newsletter and facebook readers, so send a note to me if you'd like to start your wilt-free bouquet!
 
This week's flower is a brilliant red Amaryllis.  I found these in Raleigh's JC Raulston Arboretum, which is a beautiful place and definitely worth many visits.  I started with this photograph from an earlier painting (see Amaryllis at the Arboretum), but for the 4x4 mini panels I've found that it's important to focus on just one or two flowers that have an interesting silhouette.  

I chose to zoom in on this graceful Amaryllis...

... and then I made it the star of the show:

Amaryllis, 4x4 Oil, Available for $40 

Azalea Glow VII

Azalea Glow VII is actually my tenth (and largest!) white azalea painting.  Each time I paint a white azalea I think, "Okay, that about does it for me."  And then something draws me back again.  

This time, it was the desire to create drama on a large scale, so I challenged myself to express the glow of the delicate blossoms on a 2' x 4' canvas.  Not an easy task, but It turned out just how I had hoped (which definitely doesn't always happen!)  I'm especially happy with how the strength of the values and shapes work equally well with either bright or low lighting.

Here are some of the steps in my process, starting with the original photo,

which I cropped to create interesting shapes around the flowers ("negative space").

I sketched a simple 4x4 grid to help with my placement of major shapes.  I usually use a soft pastel pencil for this stage because it wipes off easily.

Using transparent paints, I established my shapes.

After the paint dried, I covered the background greenery with a transparent blue/yellow mixture.

After the first layer dried, I added another layer and this time painted the areas of my flowers that would be shadowed.

At this point, I started in with opaque paints, keeping layers thin and adding nuances of warm and cool colors.  And, voila!  After a mere two weeks my painting is complete!  

Here's Azalea Glow VII, 24x48 Oil:

For size comparison, here it hangs at Waverly Artists Group next to two 18x24 paintings and several framed 6x6 minis.   Please stop by if you're in town!

 

Two Views: Safe Harbor and Red Boat Reflections

Often, there are several different paintings that can come from one photograph.  This particular view of Vernazza, Italy, inspired two paintings for me, focusing on different aspects of the same scene.

In Safe Harbor, I cropped the original photograph to emphasize movement.  I liked the diagonal lines that start with the reflection near the bottom right and zigzag through the boats, up to the walkway on the top right, and across the plaza to the left.

My challenge with this composition was to gently bring the viewer's eye back to the foreground.  My solution was to emphasize the reflections of the buildings and umbrellas to vertically connect back to the boats.  Here is Safe Harbor, 20x20 Oil:

After the first painting, I decided I liked the reflections so much that I wanted to paint the scene again, but with the focus primarily on the boat reflections.  I chose a long, horizontal format and cropped the image for my 18x36 canvas like this:

Here's the result ...another point of view.  Red Boat Reflections, 18x36 Oil

Both of these paintings are currently available at The Little Art Gallery.

Blossoms in Italy

Yesterday, my husband and I joined my wonderful family in the celebration of my cousin Nancy's wedding day.  And so, in honor of Nancy and Vinny, I am posting the wedding gift they received from us.

Knowing that their Italian lineage is pretty strong (yes, I know the Irish is strong too, Mom :), I chose one of my favorite new little pieces that was painted from a photo taken during our 25th anniversary trip to Italy.  This doorway in Asciano was so enticing with its shadows, flowers, and texture that I couldn't resist painting it (twice!)  For this little painting I chose to crop the scene and focus on the doorway and the flowers to the left. 

I moved the flowers a bit to the right so that they connected and overlapped the door because I loved the contrast of soft and strong with the flowers and doorway.  There is so much symbolism here for a marriage, but what speaks to me most is how our differences can complement in a way that makes the "whole" more beautiful ...  blossoms and brick ... sunlight and shadow ... soft and strong.  The door is ready to be opened to possibilities and also represents our God, who makes all things possible.  I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  Jn 10:9

Blossoms in Italy, 7x5 Oil

Here it is, framed:

And here is the happy couple, Vinny and Nancy.  Congratulations!

Lake Lynn Morning

In honor of Labor Day, what could be a more relaxing way to start the day than with a morning walk around a peaceful lake?  

I usually walk around Lake Lynn at the "magic hour" when the evening sun makes the shadows and colors crisp and dramatic, but on this rare early stroll I was rewarded with delicate veils of a misty morning as the backdrop to the peak of autumn colors.

I painted Lake Lynn Morning as I remembered it, not as the camera captured it.  To me, the orange leaves of the maples danced in dramatic contrast to the distant neutral blue.  It took my breath away.  Have a relaxing Labor Day ...

Lake Lynn Morning,  Sold

24x30