Thursday, September 29, 2016

Tulips Squared

I usually use a lot of color in my paintings; especially the florals.For this painting of white tulips I used a subdued palette. I often went to Longwood Gardens in May when the tulips were in bloom. They were planted in color order starting with white. The lack of color in these tulips makes all the other colors more  vivid.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

One Love

i am drawn to painting bouquets like this one. I don't draw each flower- I start with just big shapes and then go to smaller shapes and add darkest shapes next to the flower shapes. It always comes together just the way I see it n my head. The most exciting part is adding those last few strokes .

Thursday, September 22, 2016

High Strung

I chose a purple background for these blue hdrangeas. A common choice would be for a neutral background but I was willing to take a risk with an unusual choice. It works for me!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Green Apple

This apple and bowl were part of a still life set up in the Karen O'Neil workshop I went to in Woodstock, New York. I took a lot of photos and painted this one when I got home. The studio had perfect North light. I have never really understood what was so good about light coming from the north.I now  know that the good thing about it is that it doesn' t change much during the day and the light is more diffused. My "studio"'has more northeast light most of the time but I have learned to adapt.
My husband may laugh when reading this because I have referenced a compass direction.I am not known for my sense of direction. I delivered meals today on our Meals on Wheels route by myself because my husband is out of town.. I did just fine but of course had the help of  the GPS in the car!

Monday, September 19, 2016

Antigua Sunshine

We walked around several areas of Antigua. I loved the ice cream colors of the buildings with their white roofs, especially on such a sunny day.I  took a lot of photographs and ended up painting this watercolor of one of them.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Publicity

This painting remindd me of a movie poster from the '40's. I don't plan things like that; it just turns out that way.Flowers are always a pleasure.
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Thursday, September 15, 2016

Stand By

I have a friend whose husband worked for an airline before he retired and a retirement perk is that they can fly free on standby. It is a little uncertain if there is a seat for them on every flight but it is definitely worth it to try. These pots of flowers seem to be waiting their turn to be the star.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Brava

I really enjoyed painting this one.I love lilacs and wanted to try to make this more transparent and keep the background from becoming too flat.I learn something everyday by just painting!

Monday, September 12, 2016

Out of the Blue

This painting of geraniums is kind of out of  the blue in that it is kind  of out of my head !The basket and geraniums are from life but the arrangement and background color is from imagination. Of course imagination is helped out by at least 30 years of painting flowers.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Rest Assured

Blue and white pottery is exciting to me for some reason. I guess it is because a blue and white vase always seems to go perfectly with whatever bouquet goes into them. My favorite flower for this vase would be the white lily. There is a kind of sophistication with this combination; as if it belongs in an apartment high above Central Park in New York.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Spring

I painted something like this 3 years ago at a wonderful Nancy Medina Workshop. I took photos of the flowers we painted. I love hydrangeas and the sunflowers are the perfect complement to the blues and purple.