What's Going On?

A useful tool I have found for painting is an app that turns photos into a value study. The colors are depicted as varying shades of gray with black and white. It helps you decidevif there is enough contrast in your photo or sketch BEFORE you paint or to check your painting AFTER finishing  to see if there is enough contrast.

Crunch Time

i am getting ready for my solo show at Memphis Botanic Garden.I will hang the show on Tuesday of next week. Final preparations include adding wire to the back of the paintings and often applying a coat of Gamvar; a type of varnish. It is too late to have an inspired idea for one more painting because it wouldn't be dry in time. It will be good; just glad when it is on the walls.

HAPPY PLACE

There are a million ways to approach painting hydrangeas.I have seen some beautful super realism renderings with every petal and water droplet shown. I admire that kind of art but tend toward the impressionist tradition.There is no right or wrong way to make art. It has to come from the heart.

Botanic Garden Art Show

I am fortunate to have been asked to exhibit my paintings at the Memphis Botanic Garden for the month of August. The reception is Sunday afternoon August 6 at 3:00-5:00 p.m. Needless to say I have been busy!

Dearly Delighted

this simple arrangement seems to whisper despite some pretty bold colors. The neutrals help pull it off. I think of neutral colors as the stage hands, set builders, lighting guys, etc. of the production we know as a painting. The diva stars are those bright colors who are  stars who need the neutrals to succeed.

Perspective

The title of my art show in August is - Garden- Indoor/Outdoor. Some of my paintings are interiors with flowers and some are outdoor flowers. This one  is a landscape but with wildflowers in the foreground. Imseem to sneak in some flowers as often as I can!

I Loved Them All

I never met a hydrangea I didn't like. Each bloom is so full and sturdy in the most gorgeous array of colors.Often there is a range of colors from blue to purple on the same bush. They were favorites of my parents too. They had some beautiful bushes; I wish I had saved a cutting of them since my parents are no longer with us. But I think of them everytime I see these beautiful flowers.

CAPITAL GAINS

My favorite set ups to paint are flowers in strong light. This usually involves a window nearby. I also sometimes use a spotlight but I like the diffused look of natural light. You will notice that the part of the basket that is away from the window seems to fade into the background, causing the basket to have more three dimensional form. Another plus is how beautiful the flowers are.Even though this is not related to finance, the beauty that I see is a form of capital gain for the soul. Without additional taxes!

Keynote Speech

This painting of geraniums will be in my solo show at the Memphis Botanic Gardens. It is larger (20x20 stretched canvas)than most that I sell on Daily paintworks.com.I don't  post too many large paintings on that ssite be ause of the cost of shipping, although I have sold quite a few that were shipped to other parts of the country. I go overboard packing those large ones because I want to make sure no damage occurs. I am always relieved when they arrive unharmed. I have never had one arrive in anything but good shape.

French Classic

I have painted countless hydrangeas of all kinds.When  I finished this one I was reminded of France. Flowers were everywhere when I was there. Something about this painting looked French. Anything French seems to have an air of elegance, no matter how mundane. A person from France could read the local phonebook out loud and sound like a Shakesperian actor ( with a French accent). I,try to imagine what a French Dollar Store would look like; everything classy for a small price. . We could learn a few things from the French.

Late Show

This painting of a garden is a little abstract. One advantage of being very near sighted is that I can look at something without my contact lenses on and it gives a perfect abstract view!It causes me to concentrate on the basic shapes and colors. Of course you don't want me to drive you anywhere in a car without vision correction!

Stand by Your Man

The title for this one just popped into my head for some reason. When I was in. college we often went to a local bar named The Pad. There was a juke box there that contained popular songs of the day . Towards the end of the evening someone always played Stand  by your Man by Tammy Wynette which prompted a hearty sing along among the patrons. Hopefully there was more to my education than that song but we had fun!