When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

Kentucky

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Milkweed

Thursday, September 24th, 2020


 

Milkweed along Hwy 69 Kentucky, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
Milkweed along Hwy 69 Kentucky, a favorite subject of mine – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb watercolor paper

Merging Visions Exhibition

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010


 

  The Fourth of July 03, 27H x 33W inches Oil Pastels on 140 lb cold pressed premium watercolor paper, brassy-gold frame

Milkweed Melody, 27H x 33W inches framed Oil Pastels on 140 lb cold pressed premium watercolor paper. Has brassy-gold frame painted with an extension of the drawing.

Partnering with poet Christina Smith and her poem, Earth’s Love Song Milkweed Melody is showing April 1st – 30th at the VAST (Visual Arts Society of Texas) and Denton Poets Assembly collaborative event, Merging Visions Exhibition, with art and poetry at both the Emily Fowler and North Branch Libraries, Denton, Texas. Opening Receptions Saturday, April 17th 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Emily Fowler and 1 – 3 p.m. at North Branch

Orange Milkweed

Saturday, November 21st, 2009


 

 Orange Milkweed, 15 x 22 inches watercolors, finished

Orange Milkweed, Kentucky 15 x 22 inches watercolors on paper, sold

Driving from Texas to Ontario one summer I had to pull over to take photos and a closer study of the vivid orange bouquets growing beside the highway in southern Kentucky. The colors are irresistible, and this is not the first or last time I’ll portray this subject. All plants and trees contain medicinal and useful chemical properties in their leaves, stems, roots and flowers.

I looked up Orange Milkweed in the most informative books about plants, The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism edited by Malcom Stuart, which contains details about every plant I have ever sought to find information for.  According to it, Appalachian Indians made a tea from the leaves to use during religious ceremonies. One common name for this plant is “Pleuracy Root”, as it is still useful to treat infections of the respiratory tract including pleurisy It is used as a diaphoretic, antispasmodic, carminative, expectorant. Color also has enchanting, supernatural energizing properties!

 

The Fourth Of July – moving on

Saturday, October 18th, 2008


  The Fourth of July, 36H x 48W x 2D inches, acrylics on canvas

The Fourth of July, 36H x 48W x 2D inches, acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Sold.

The Oxide Gallery in Denton had an open call today for Artists to bring in three paintings that best represented current work, to be judged for upcoming space openings.  Even though I didn’t think The Fourth of July was finished, I brought it in because it has the cheerful colors and bold marks that I’d like to inject more into future work. Usually there are lots of colors used, but they get layered over each other on the canvas and can become muted. The gallery owners informed me that it is finished! OK, great, I’ll take their advice. I’m quite happy to move on to another painting.

Especially toward the final stages when so much time and study has been invested, we can be so involved in the work we don’t see it with a fresh perspective the way others do. Other people’s eyes and opinions are so valuable.

 

Details

Monday, September 29th, 2008


 

The Fourth Of July, left lower central detail The Fourth Of July, right lower central detail

The Fourth of July, past the point of no return. Making one small change affects the whole piece. Rather than post another image of the painting as a whole, because there are already enough pictures of it, here are some details of changes made in the past few days from the lower central portion of the painting. To be continued…

The Fourth Of July finished

Saturday, September 27th, 2008


 

The Fourth of July, central detail

The Fourth of July, central detail of 36H x 48W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas

Yesterday as I added a few final brushstrokes a blue streak showed up unintentionally from some color left in the center of the brush. It was one of those rare details that happen accidentally to change the course of the entire painting. There are similar angular strokes that were starting to build up from color washes, but that tiny spark of blue brought all the others to attention, so today I added a few more in different colors. It was exactly what I was searching for. Over the course of time I may see areas where more tiny streaks need to be added to balance out the composition, but it’s otherwise finished. I am so excited about the sparks of color idea!

 

The Fourth of July work in progress

Thursday, September 25th, 2008


 

The Fourth of July work in progress, phase 01 36H x 48W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, custom built stretcher frame, wrapped sides painted

The Fourth of July - June 24, 2008 - in progress - 36 x 48 x 2 inches acrylics on canvas The Fourth of July - Sept 23, 2008 - in progress - 36 x 48 x 2 inches acrylics on canvas The Fourth of July - in progress - 36 x 48 x 2 inches acrylics on canvas, custom built stretcher frame. The Fourth of July - in progress - 36 x 48 x 2 inches acrylics on canvas, custom built stretcher frame.

The Fourth of July work in progress, 36H x 48W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, custom built stretcher frame, wrapped sides painted.

June 22, 23, Sept 23, 24: Adding mid-tones. The addition of a blue-white haze gel wash lightens areas that need to be rebuilt with brighter colors; in attempts to create contrasts, many areas have become too dark. Paintings always swing back and forth from too light to too dark or too defined to not defined enough, and just like a pendulum eventually come to rest between the two. I hope to bring the painting back toward the energy and explosive colors that it had after only one hour of work. Only the foreground flowers will have some detail; the rest will remain impressionistic in style.

The 4th of July on the 22nd of June

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008


 

The Fourth of July, 36H x 48W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress

Added darkest values, mapping out the composition more clearly, now will define a few blossoms in the foreground by washing off dark areas and paint with pure colors from the tube and bring back to the cheery lights and brights that were present at the start.

The Fourth of July 01, work in progress

Friday, June 20th, 2008


 

 The Fourth of July 01, 36H x 48W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, work in progress

The Fourth of July 01, 36H x 48W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, sturdy custom built stretcher frame. Work in progress. Rarely do I draw outlines to start paintings.. just start splashing paint in a frenzy around the canvas, responding to the subject matter.

Not only does the Orange Milkweed remind me of fireworks, but it was on July 4th last year that I stopped to photograph the vibrant wildflowers growing alongside the highways in Kentucky.

 The Fourth of July, 36 x 48 x 2 Acrylics on wrapped canvas, work in progress, just started

 

Milkweed Melody

Thursday, September 20th, 2007


 

Milkweed Melody finished, 27H x 33W inches oil pastels on 140 lb cold pressed premium watercolor paper, brassy-gold frame

  Frame detail images:      
         
  Milkweed Melody, upper left frame detail   Milkweed Melody, upper right frame detail  
  Milkweed Melody, lower left frame detail   Milkweed Melody, lower right frame detail  

Milkweed Melody finished. Oh, the joy of color! 27H x 33W inches Oil Pastels on 140 lb cold pressed premium on WC paper. Has brassy-gold frame painted with an extension of the drawing, frame detail images above. Below: work as it was in progress.


 

Milkweed Melody - stage 1 Milkweed Melody - stage 2

Milkweed Melody - 22 x 30 oil pastels on watercolor paper - in progress

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