Saturday, September 22, 2018

Shake Things Up

This painting started with a hot pink background. I knew that I wanted to portray a wildflower scene and I just kep adding shapes of flowers and leaves. The pale yellow flowers were the primary blooms with all other shapes supporting those..

Thursday, September 20, 2018

High Key

Painting white flowers is often a challenge until you realize that they are anything but pure white. Of coutrse white paint is used but so are many other colors. Some are subtle as in the bloom itself and others are brighter in the background.This painting is titled High Key because the colors are mostly lighter values with the exception of a few dark to make the blossoms pop.

Monday, September 17, 2018

Never Enough

It is well past lilac season but I say there can never be enough lilacs or paintings of lilacs. I am glad for many reasons to be back in the south; mild winters being a major reason. Sadly , we are not the best climate for lilacs. I have heard a few urban myth sightings of lilac bushes down here but I have yet to see one. When we lived in Pennsylvania were lucky to live 2 miles from Longwood Gardens where the lilacs were intoxicating. I will never forget just standing in front of the bushes just taking in the sight and smell of them.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Feels Like Friday

I could paint one of these blue and white vases every day and never run out of a different pattern. They are so pleasing , especially when paired with  beautiful hydrangeas. They seem like they were made gor each other.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Introduction

As Paul  Simon said, there are 50 ways to leave your lover. Well, there are apparently more than 50 ways to paint hydrangeas in mason jars. I probably have painted more than that of many types of flowers in jars. I like the simplicity of the jars as a way to show the beauty of the flowers.

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Make Me Wanna Holler

i was listening to Marvin Gay’s Inner City Bues and the lyric in the title came up and I knew it was perfect for the title of this painting. The colors seem to be alive and want to make some noise!

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Want To Fall In Love

Drama is the name  of the game. I recently looked back on some watercolors of mine from about 20 years ago. There was nothing really wrong with them but to my mind they were a little BORING. I think I have finally learned that to be more dynamic a painting needs to kick it up a notch. That means make the darks a little darker, the lighte a little lighter, and the composition a little more unpredictable.