Soften My Heart

  

       Soften My Heart - oil on canvas - 34" x 37"

Who doesn't love pink and turquoise? Who doesn't love pink roses from the garden placed in a clear glass vase?

Who doesn't love when the petals start cascading onto a reflective surface?

It is enough to soften any heart. 

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Cherry Blossoms

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Making this painting was a first on a few levels.  It is the biggest painting I've made to date, 48"x44". Additionally, it was the first time I painted a tree inside my studio. Well, maybe not the whole tree. 

I actually bought three cherry blossom branches from my local florist, and then brought them into my studio, plopped them in a bucket of water and started painting. Having the branches inside meant I could take my time with the little dangling puffs of pink,  and pay attention to the value  and color changes on these intricate, delicate forms. It was lovely to get up so close to them for a thorough study. 

Following the twisting, rising lines of the branches and foliage was dizzying at times. I had to push the perspective to create the sense of the branches reaching up, while putting thick bold paint on the thicker bark  sections at the base.  The chance to spend so much time intimately contemplating the beauty of these boughs was like a blessing. 

Pantone 2022 - Very Peri

Pantone chose Very Peri as the IT color of 2022. The purplish tone encourages individual inventiveness and creativity. Game on. Let's get some Very Peri on the walls. This little collection of recent work is a good start. 

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Cherry Blossom Jubilee

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My local florist sells cherry blossom boughs in early spring. I bought one, and brought it into my studio. The branch, plopped in a bucket of water, stood patiently while I placed different color swatches behind it, "feeling" for the right match. The pink flowerets seemed to sing when I put the turquoise cloth behind them, and that, of course, was the tell. 

Painting nature indoors is a curious thing. Without the elements, I could explore the details of the leaves and bark and buds almost leisurely, and at eye level, which was very sweet. But at times, especially as it started to die, the cherry branch seemed painfully out of her element. I realize now, that it was the turquoise cloth which echoed an open, free sky that helped soften the story of this wild beauty, held captive inside the walls of my studio.                                                              

Flowers for a Finch

 Happy New Year's Eve

I was just thinking that it had been a while since I last posted here, and that maybe today was a good day to check in. Looks like I had the same thought exactly one year ago. Check out the last post if you don't believe me. What are the chances of that? ... well, 1 in 365. 

 Flowers for a Finch is a breakout piece for me, new in every way except for the flowers, of course. I will  be back at my easel on Monday and am excited to continue exploring this new direction. I am resolute in my wish to post here regularly in the New Year.  I have a sneaking suspicion that was my resolution last year, too. Oh, well.

Here's to the best year yet for all of us. 2022, we are counting on you. 

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Zinnias in Glass

Zinnias are by far my most favorite flower to paint. First off... what about those colors? It is pure joy to  squirt out hefty piles of pinks and yellows and oranges and just letting them swirl. How about the structure of the blooms? They are architectural masterpieces, with so many interesting details, big chunky centers and sturdy petals not to mention an array of assorted shapes. Finally, zinnias have a very long hang time... they really do hold their shape and keep their perky little heads up for many, many days. Knowing ahead of time that I do not have to race to finish the painting because the flowers are NOT wilting before my eyes, leaves me with a wonderful sense of calm that I believe translates into the finished piece. Before the zinnia season is over here on the eastern end of Long Island... I plan to do another still life, and then a landscape of the farm that grows them. Wish me luck and ... I'll keep you posted. 

 

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Turtle Island in Late Spring

The eastern coast of Long Island is populated by clusters of cedar trees that provide structure and color to the overall deciduous environment in winter and early spring. I've begun painting them and exploring the way they punctuate this landscape that I have loved since my childhood. Pictured here is Turtle Island, the magical isle I would swim out to in summer. I can remember exploring it in my wet bathing suit with bare feet hopping over rocks and shells, always in search of something. The victory of an abandoned bird's nest, or a dried clutch of wildflowers meant swimming back with the treasure held high above the water. They were my most favorite days, and so imagine the joy I had painting this place over 50 years later.
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Dancing Roses

It was such an amazing experience making this painting. I stood before this every changing, moving, shifting, blooming, fading burst of color for four days... and tried to translate its beauty, to pin its glory down and contain it within a 30" x 40" two-dimensional space. How crazy am I to even try? Crazy happy. Crazy content.
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Orange Roses

Experimenting here with the warm orange tones of the roses against a white backdrop of cool blues. There is a magic that happens when working with complimentary colors and different temperatures. Overall, I think this was a successful exploration.
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Mother's Day Hydrangea

I love noticing the colors of white on white,. They are subtle and yet so powerful. This was painted with so much joy... and I think it shows. 24"x24" oil on canvas panel
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Three Little Lilacs

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Painted directly from life, this little gem captures the unique structure and color of three lilac blooms.

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This still life taught me the power black - as a background color - has to create an atmosphere of mystery in a painting. Blushing Bouquet, is perhaps, the "darkest" still life I've ever painted. Making it, got me through one of the saddest times in my life - the six weeks during which my father passed away from pancreatic cancer. I loved him so much. I still do.

Simplicity and Admiration

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Over the next few days, I will be posting images of work headed for Grenning Gallery next month. They'll be part of a two person show opening on September 22 and running for about a month. If you are in Sag Harbor, NY, during that time, I hope you'll drop by. Curious about the title of this piece? It is taken from the symbolic meaning of a pink rose. The next time you receive one, know that you are being admired and wished simplicity.

Subtlety in Pink

               

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It has been months since these beauties were in my garden... but I just got around to having the painting I did photographed, and so I'm posting peonies in December.

Cosmos and Snapdragons in Glass

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This was such an exciting piece to work on. I fell in love with the vase and all the reflected light on it and in it. Snapdragons are like sculpture and so I could pile on the paint. Cosmos, on the other hand, are soft whispers of color and so when painting them, I indulged in the gentle placement of pinks an whites. I love my job.

Harvesting Bulbs

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The sentiment here is the circle of life; the changing of the seasons and man's interaction with nature in all her phases. 'Harvesting Bulbs," celebrates that cycle as the lush dark tulips wither and the bulbs grow robust with vitality for next year's blooms. There is something magical about putting those onion-like orbs in the ground only to be elated when the first green tips poke up through the dirt months later.

Hydrangea in Round Glass

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This was an experiment with different shapes in a single composition. The round vase, the oval table, the rectangular ledge in the background and the triangular cone shape of the hydrangeas themselves.