Reveling in Cherry Blossoms

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One of the pleasures I have as an artist is exploring color and color combinations. I was so drawn to paint these pink little puffs with a golden mustard color as the background. The violet shadow tones in the blossoms "sang" beside the yellow, pushing the pleasure of painting and viewing this piece when finished. 

 

Zinnias in Glass

By the time I finished this painting, I had probably gone through 2 different bunches of zinnias. Working from life with flowers as subject matter, means that I have to have a strategy for getting the work completed before the blooms fade. In this case, I was lucky in that zinnias have a long season, and the farm that grows them is just down the street. I began by arranging the flowers in a way that drew me in, then quickly went to work starting with the vase and the flowers that hung down around it. I worked my way up, making sure to get the key (anchoring) blooms painted in next. Those would be the large reddish orange one near the center and the yellow one to the right of it. By that time, I needed fresh flowers and added them in to the existing fading blooms, placing them as needed to create an interesting completion of the composition. The three outstretching blooms at the top are examples. I "posed" them in such a way as to create a graceful twist and sway to the arrangement. 

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December Roses

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I am paying more attention to value, realizing that it is by far the most important component of a  realistic painting. Take away color, and you would still know that these were flowers in a vase. But take away the values, and the work goes "flat" and becomes abstract. Interesting, don't you think?

Madame Eggplant

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Probably the only thing I didn't eat yesterday. Happy Thanksgiving a day late.

Petunias

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Loved how leggy these petunias got, and decided to paint them. There was a movement and airiness to them that I found so beautiful. Not to mention their color.

Kitchen Basics

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My dad recently sold his house. I ended up with lots and lots of stuff, including an electric mixer, which became the centerpiece and inspiration for this still life. It is most complicated composition to date.

Lasting Beauty

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The element of painting that I do not pay enough attention to is composition. I know why that is so. It is because I just can't wait to get started painting. I love moving that glorious color all over the place and painstakingly setting up objects slows me down! But, when I DO take the time to compose my still life.... oh what a difference it makes!

Indian Summer Roses

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Here in Sag Harbor, NY, we are experiencing an Indian Summer. Putting aside all the ominous implications that may have regarding global warming, it meant that my favorite rose bush just kept pushing out gorgeous blooms right up through November. I did a series of three little paintings, and this is the first of which I am posting. If you look closely, you will see the rose hips mixed right in with new buds and spent flowers. 

Scattered Peaches and Stacked Plates

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I have a beautiful milk glass table on my screened in porch and late in the day, the sunlight shines on it in a burst of warmth and brightness. One afternoon this past summer, I scattered peaches across the tabletop just at that time of day and stacked a few white plates as well. Then, the race was on to get the color, the shadows, the reflections ...  the painting done before the sun moved and the magic was over. Painting at such a fast pace manifested a loose, almost abstract painting with thick application of the paint. I like what happened and am curious and excited to paint like this again.

Incoming Tide

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I can't tell a lie. I intended this to be a painting of low tide. In fact, I had checked the tide charts and got down to this little rocky beach in time, (or so I thought,) to capture the rocks and interest of sea grass and shoreline at dead low tide. Mother Nature had other ideas, however, and sent that tide in faster than usual, or so it felt.  Anyway, I was happy to get the sea grass in before it was completely covered with water since I considered it to be a big part of the composition.

View towards Jessup's Neck

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This was one of those days when I was determined to get a painting done. I had gone to The Hampton's Classic earlier in the day, hoping to paint some horses waiting to show. I grew frustrated, however,  not able to find a stable where there was good light and tethered horses. All about me were horses trotting or galloping or jumping. Not one was standing still, so I packed up my paints and headed to the beach. There I was dazzled by the brightness of the day and the bigness of the clouds. I got my painting done. While it is true that clouds can move quickly, they definitely don't move as fast as horses.

Montauk's Finest

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I had so much fun painting these two working fishing boats out on the docks of Montauk, NY.  The air, the light, the water, the boats and the fisherman themselves made it so exciting. I had to work fast not just because of the setting sun, but also because Montauk is a very busy fishing port. Moments, and I mean moments after I finished up this painting, a gigantic fishing vessel pulled right up against the dock I was painting on, completely blocking my view. That day, timing was everything.

Sagaponack Farm

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This is the same barn as featured in my last post. However, this is it in early morning light. It continues to astound and at times frustrate me at how dramatically a scene changes as the light changes. The warm glow on the old wooden doors and the cast shadows under the eaves are what drew me to this barn in the first place. By the time I had the sketch done and began to paint, however, the sun had moved behind the barn and I had to stop. The warmth and mood were gone. So, the next morning I went back and there was the barn in the light that initially caught my eye. Only now, there was a tractor parked in front as well - oh, the perils of painting a working farm in plein aire!

Tractor at Foster Farm

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Working farms on the end of eastern Long Island are slowly giving way to big showy houses hidden behind high plantings of privet. So when I happened upon this barn, with its tractor standing in plain sight, I was elated. The day was hot, and humid and bright which only made this beautiful turquoise barn even more enticing to me. I spent a wonderful afternoon under a great big shade tree, painting it. Without that big shade tree, though, I do not think I could have lasted.

Hostas

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This past summer I decided to get out of my studio and go paint in the great outdoors. For this painting, I only went as far as my own backyard. I am not going to lie, this was a struggle. The white extensions of tiny bell shaped flowers seemed to paint themselves but the hosta LEAVES were another story. In general, leaves are difficult, after all, they are green (a tough color for me,)  and without much variation from one to the other. What made matters worse was that in this particular composition, they also took up over half the canvas. I tried painting them in full sun in the morning, but then as the day progressed and they started to fall into shadow, I liked that too. So then I started over and painted them in the shade. I literally chased the light for about three days when I finally surrendered to what it was and decided to "leaf" it alone. In the end, I am happy with this dancing flower bells painting. I am certainly better acquainted with "green" and am much less daunted by leaves in general. Oh, and I'm betting there is another hosta painting in my future ... next summer.

Cascade of Yellow Roses

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This was painted in plein aire in my front garden. On the first day of painting, I got in a good sketch and a smattering of color and felt pretty good about my start. After all, a 30"x48" canvas is a very big canvas for me. Later that night, the skies burst open in a downpour of torrential rains and in the morning, my beautiful yellow roses looked a mess. They were drooping and in spots their stems were broken. I don't remember what annoyed me more at the time, the battered rose bush or my now defunct painting sketch. I had been thinking about making this painting since the summer before and I was determined not to let a deluge get in my way. I propped up the broken branches with brooms and rakes from the garage and proceeded with the painting. I was now painting heavy clusters of yellow blooms, cascading downwards in a spiral. It was actually quite beautiful... even more beautiful than the original sketch of perky upright roses. In fact, when my art dealer saw the finished piece, she commented that what made this piece special, was that the roses were facing downward. Of course, this was not my original plan - Fate?, Mother Nature?, Dumb Luck? Something? intervened and the plan got better.  Hmmmm... I find that painting, like life, is funny that way.

Pink Peonies in Grey Pot

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The challenge here, was that the wall and the ceramic pot were both the same color. Of course, that is what made the still life setup so beautiful to me, but also what made it so difficult to paint.

White Peonies in Glass

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I was able to make one more peony painting before the blooms were gone... until next June.

White Peonies in Grey

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Each June presents me with the peony: the flower with which I have a love-hate relationship.  I love the flower - its entrancing fragrance and soft, thin, whisper white petals. I love the idea of painting peonies but frustration seems to set in when I start. I hate frustration. The balled blooms are swift to open and even quicker to drop. Not to mention those delicate petals that curve so elegantly and show off their beautiful white hues - hues which I have so much trouble grasping are not really white.

Lilacs in Blue

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I was hesitant to paint these lilacs in this vase because of its turquoise handle and rim. Wasn't sure if the color turquoise would fight the lavender tones of the flowers. Actually, I knew in my gut it was a great color combination, but wondered if I could execute it effectively. Glad I trusted my gut and my abilities because I'm quite satisfied by the outcome.