One of the reasons I enjoy painting florals is because of the challenge. They're elusive, delicate and subtle. All very difficult qualities to attain in a painting. Also their edges always intrigue me. Not all the edges should be painted as if they are important. Some should fade into the background while others should be sharp and come forward. The key words here are "as if", because all edges are important. They all add to the whole picture. So while one petal may not appear as important as its neighbor, it's quality adds to the delivery of the whole painting. Hmm. Did you get that?
You can bid on this painting on Daily Paintworks by clicking here.
Having been so busy getting ready for my next big project, I didn't have enough time to get anything substantial out. I wanted to keep my hand in the paint, so to speak though. So I put together this little red painting. I wanted to see how warm I could get and still have the cool vase not pop too much. Also a friend had a really cool skull and I wanted to paint it. It all seemed to go together so I had a little fun for a couple of days. I like the symbolism in a Vanitas - life and death - the eternal circle. The white flowers also represent beauty, the skull - the transience of life and the candle snuffer - well, that seems pretty obvious. The colors on my screen are a bit saturated and that doesn't surprise me as reds don't always translate well on the screen. The vase appears a bit blue here too and is, in fact, a little turquoise. I seem to have hit the limits of my Photoshop abilities in working with this one to get the color to read right. Some health issues have kept me from the studio on a regular basis. I hope to be in the "pink" soon and my next project is "Sleeping Beauty". I plan on documenting the entire process of the painting here on this site as well as my teaching blog. Should be fun so stay tuned.
It's really been a long while since I have found the time to indulge in a small floral. I'm a little rusty but once things got moving, the flowers flowed off my brush. I chose these Dogwoods because I enjoy the crisp white blooms that stand out against a darker background. I put in the yellow tablecloth to brighten things up a bit. With the Seqim Arts Studio Tour coming up in July, I have to start getting things framed and some new work complted. I've targeted Saturday afternoon for that task and hope to put out some new landscapes as well before the awaited date. I'm keeping to small formats for these, but framing them with wide mats and thin gold frames. They look spiffy.
As we get closer to the date, I'll start posting work that will be exclusive to the show and also links to maps and guides for the tour. The studio tour is being held during the Sequim Lavendar Festival. It's a huge event and we have all kinds of wonderful things happening from wine tasting to Jazz in the Alley scheduled for the long weekend. Anyone interested should contact the Sequim Chamber of Commerce.
I've recently been introduced to Facebook. Ok...I'm a little behind there. But then, not everyone blogs either. Anyway, as a result, I hooked up with a friend from my teen camp days and she commissioned a small painting. My friend didn't want a vase in this floral, however; she requested instead only a spray. So here it is. Hope she likes it. To see how this painting was done, see a step by step demonstration with pictures and explanation at www.musensbysusan.blogspot.com.
One of the things I've been considering as I return to painting on a regular basis is what I'd like to include or change about my daily painting routine in order to keep it fresh and, above all, interesting for myself. I'm always looking for a challenge. Daily painting - or almost daily - when you're trying to actually do a finished piece, can easily lead to burn out. As I am currently studying realism in the classical form at an atelier in Seattle, I've decided to try as often as I can to include small realistic paintings. As these are quite time consuming, I won't be doing them all that oten. But the purpose is to hone my skills and not take up a lot of studio space while I do it. So these are by necessity small, post card paintings in the spirit of the original daily painting movement. I'm offering them at low prices because they're a bit different than my usual fast work and also because I just think folks need a break these days. Enjoy.
Below is the slide show I promised from the demo at Sequim Arts in Sequim WA last week.
Painting is becoming more and more of a challenge with the mess around me growing daily. We're into the third day of drywall and mudding. I'm told to expect at least three more before they plaster and paint. Sigh. I purchased the materials for my matting table today and hope to sneak into the empty studio space on Sunday when the workers are gone and put the thing together. However, I did manage to get a bit of work done yesterday and today. My husband helped me move my huge case of pastels into the dining room (the drawers tipped forward, oh no!) and after I made some order out of the mess, I started this painting. It's a mixed media, actually. The underpainting is done in watercolor and then I've worked glazes of pastel into it. I've found that this technique works best on rag. While the paper is a bear to raise a nap on, once you do, the surface allows you to get multiple lazers of pastel in thin glazes. I'm entering this one in the Northwest Pastel Society members juried competition. They've advertised that it's an "anything goes" show for pastel so I'm hoping the mixed media flies. Wish me luck.
Things haven't changed much since I posted a couple of days ago. My studio is still freezing and things are difficult to get to. But today, despite it all, I put on my heavy coat, went into the freezer and pulled out a few supplies. I had a hunkering to paint lillies. Maybe I'm just praying for spring but it felt right. Hopefull somehow. When I was in Europe a few months ago, I purchased a red wool scarf that I've been wanting to use in a painting. The designs on it are quite elaborate but I felt they would detract from the simplicity of the flowers, so I didn't put them in. But the warm red tones of the scarf acted nicely to set off the cool whites and lavenders in the flowers.
I had to paint this in my dining room and despite the inconvenience and mess, it was comforting to have my husband a few feet away watching an old John Wayne movie while the cats played at my feet. The light wasn't the best for photographing this but despite that, I think the photo still conveys the overall warm feeling of the painting. Enjoy.
I recently sold a small nude to a collector and framed it for her in one of these hand finished frames. It looked so good that I decided to offer them as an option on some of my other pieces. This little floral was so charming, I decided it needed its own little frame. The painting is available both with and without the frame. This frame is available for all my 5" x 7" pieces.
Time for another floral today. I'm needing to build up a backlog as I intend to do the festival at Bellingham this summer and will need a score or two of these and others. I'm a bit out of practice with flowers so it's good to stretch my proverbial wings a bit. Enjoy.
I actually painted this piece earlier last month but wasn't happy with it. I've kept it around the studio and finally figured out what it lacked. The blooms are more abundant now and the canvas looks integrated. I adjusted the light on the vase and the plums shadows were deepened. More loose blooms adorn the table top and the light has more of a glow. I first put a separator coat of varnish on and then painted the second layers in glazes. It really made a spectacular difference in the painting. My husband was walking past the studio and just glanced in. He did a double take and said -"Wow...is that new?" Guess I succeeded! There is, of course, generous paint on the flowers. The varnish really makes the colors brighter and things just glow! Think I'll be doing more of that. It's really hard to see the effect in a photo. You'll just have to have some faith. See the detail below. Enjoy.
