flowers
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Tuesday, July 30th, 2013
Blue Flag Iris, 24H x 18W inches graphite on paper, white mat
Gladiolas
Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013
Gladiolas, 24H x 18W inches graphite on paper, white mat
Blue Flag Iris Abstract
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
Blue Flag Iris Abstract, 10 x 10 x 1 inches oil pastels on canvas, unframed.
Spring Garden Mix
Saturday, April 27th, 2013
Spring Garden Mix, 18H x 24 inches oil pastels on 80 lb acid free premium. Framed size 27H x 33 inches.
BlossoMania
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
Blossomania, 12H x 16W inches oil pastels painted with oil blending and glazing medium on 80 lb acid free premium, white mat
I’ve been admiring the round masses clumped on the Plum tree branches in our neighbor’s back yard for a week or so now. Yesterday and today, pink swirls in the wind inspired this kooky poem
Petals are falling, the sky is blue
They cover everything, old and new
If I sit too long, I’ll be covered too!
Larger image shows the finished piece, 12H x 16W inches, which was cropped from the original size, left thumbnail, 18H x 24 inches. Blogging always reveals a different perspective. If I had not re-sized the original in order to post, I might never have recognized that the cropped portion has a more balanced composition…benefits of blogging!
Celosia – work in progress
Thursday, April 18th, 2013
Celosia, work still in progress, 18H x 24W inches 0il pastels on 100% cotton paper
This piece was tucked away a month ago, planning to continue work in future with new eyes, so with nothing to lose, I jumped back in today and threw more color around. I splurged today and bought about 40 new oil sticks, the “Sennelier” brand. Wow, they are so intensely colorful and creamy-beautiful to work with! There is no contest as far as quality compared to any of the other brands I’ve been using, but they do have a lot of oil content which makes them muddy easily. Looks like it needs to be stored away again to re-work and refineanother day. I don’t like giving up on a piece until it feels absolutely done, or without a doubt done to death!
Left, March 22nd, 2013, Day 4 in progress
Reminiscent of retro sofa fabric, now that I see it on-screen! Usually leaving page space showing through to create light and brightness, this time I colored the entire page yellow before starting. Adding white did not help brighten areas much, but did muddle colors, helping some flowers recede. Much of the pure color as seen in the early versions has been covered up or removed, but will be re-added cautiously. The style has also gradually changed to more of a Representational/Impressionistic one. To finish, there will be more scrutiny, and fewer emotional responses before adding or removing anything else.
March 20th through 22nd; Days 1, 2, and 3
Zinnias
Thursday, December 20th, 2012
Zinnias, 18H x 24W inches graphite on paper.
Using an eraser just as much as the graphite, the composition is roughed in to fill the page. Smudging creates dark tones – some are removed with different sized erasers, and some areas are detailed. Initial plans were to create a drawing with about 4 inches of grey tones bleeding into a colorful central square to be drawn and painted with watercolor pencils, similar to Chrysanthemums, with borders more defined, but I like this one without colors. Plans always need to change according to what the results are dictating.
Flamboyant Tree flowers and seed pods
Thursday, December 6th, 2012
Flamboyant Tree Flowers and Seed Pods – Chapala, Mexico – 9H x 12W inches oil pastels on paper, white mat
Fields of Flax – Rowley, Alberta Canada
Monday, November 12th, 2012
Fields of Flax, Rowley, Alberta Canada, 12H x 16W inches watercolors on paperpreliminary study for larger acrylics painting
Missing routine
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
The Campsite, 24 x 30 inches watercolors on 140 lb cold pressed premium
I finally brought my watercolor paints back from my son’s place in Canada, where I left them so they wouldn’t freeze on the 5-day drive back west last November. Driving again, I’ve just returned from this year’s visit, when I gave my grandson a one-of-a-kind fabric book hand-made for his first birthday, Colors for Cameron. I plan to make him something special every year.
So, with a couple of new brushes and 12 x 16″ paper block, and now with the rainy season upon us back in Oregon, I look forward to establishing a routine of painting again. Invigorated by a summer full of gardening and flowers, the stunning scenery across America this time of year, plus reviewing archives of work I haven’t seen for ages, I’m all set to splash out some new watercolors. Our Portland house is a renovator’s dream/nightmare!, and we’re not out of the woods yet. Attempting to focus more on art than house, smaller paintings are more manageable and less of a production than my typically large canvas paintings…however, I’m curious to experiment and see how watercolors behave on primed canvas at some point!
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