Two 4" x 5" Flower Paintings

     These small studies have served to give me a try at painting flowers. I started the 4" x 5" acrylic painting of fuchsia colored hibiscus flowers months ago, and recently pulled it out to finish. Thinking a pair of studies might be nice, I chose white astilbe for the second small piece, both for the way white contrasts with fuchsia and for the difference in shape. It has been a long time since I have attempted flower paintings; you can see a purple iris here and magnolia blossoms here.  Each of those sold somewhere along the way.

     Clearly, landscapes come more easily to me, but the learning involved in these studies was worth it. Flowers come out better, I think, when they are not over-worked--with just a few brush strokes in just the right colors. Highlights add depth, but multiple layers of acrylic paint do not necessarily add anything, rather seemed to detract. I'm sure there are countless gorgeous flower paintings by accomplished floral artists that would prove me wrong. So maybe what I should say is that in a small piece, what would work better at least for me would be surer quicker strokes than I used on the hibiscus. They say live and learn, but I often need to try something new, make various mistakes, and learn. Since no one is grading the efforts, it's fun and refreshing.

     The individual flowers that make up the astilbe plumes are too tiny to overwork, so that piece pleases me more. There is some layering, beginning with a slightly bluish white, finishing with slightly yellowed white (for the warmth)  toward the tops of the plumes and some pure white highlights. I used a fan brush, pressed into the paint so that the bristles were nicely separated and dabbed away in a "plumey" pattern. For each piece, I had looked at photos in my husband's gardening and botanical reference books. We had a hibiscus in the back yard at the time I started that painting, so could use my own photos as well (the hibiscus was not blooming at the time, but I had studied them up close often enough to draw on memory too).

Question of the day: What new thing have you tried lately and what did you learn doing it? 

Ocean Painting-- "Clouds Moving In"

"Clouds Moving In"

     Jacksonville, Florida's Atlantic Ocean beaches are long, wide, and ever-changing. The fascinating coastal skies also change often and look different every time we visit--we love living near this natural magnificence! 

     "Clouds Moving In", a 14" x 11" gallery-wrapped acrylic painting, portrays a late morning moment seen on a walk headed away from other beach goers. Happy to have a stretch of beach to myself, I took some reference photos and made notes about colors in the sky and water and the shifting shapes of the restless clouds.

     In previous ocean-front paintings (except for a sunrise scene painted for our son and his wife), I usually included dunes, sea oats, walkways, or other additional features of interest. This time, I wanted a view simply of beach, ocean, and sky with the focus on clouds building in the sky--a scene with its own kind of challenge in the simplicity. Preliminary sketches tested various composition possibilities. 

     Other projects (and life events) interrupted the painting process a few times. Periodic uncertainty about what to include and what to leave out also slowed the process, but I have finally decided (even with lingering uncertainty about a few aspects) to declare the piece "good enough" and "done". The seabirds rising were the final touch, adding a bit of life and movement to the scene.

     The palette for the work let the cool colors dominate with warmer tones in the sand and tinting some of the clouds. I used ultramarine and cerulean blue, Paynes grey, burnt sienna, and titanium white with touches of cadmium red light and cadmium yellow medium in some of the mixes.

Question of the day: Is it sometimes difficult for you to decide when a creative project is good enough to call "done"? 

P.S. Sorry the first link above ("previous ocean-front paintings") scoops up so many blog posts, some not as relevant as intended. I couldn't find a way to winnow them down, but feel free to take a look. A quick scroll through the batch will find any that might be of interest to you.

      

Landscape Painting -- "On the Jones Creek Trail"

"On the Jones Creek Trail"

 My newest acrylic landscape painting, "On the Jones Creek Trail", on 16" x 20" gallery-wrapped canvas, was inspired by lovely walks in the Jacksonville Arboretum and Gardens with my husband and little Shih Tzu dog. The memories and photos used as reference material (one of them shown below) span several visits, and this painting is a composite of scenes along one of the trails, which weaves in and out of a woodsy area, with many views of Jones Creek. Here in coastal North Florida, natural vegetation can grow so thick that I need to "clear out some underbrush" to create a pleasing, balanced composition for painting. However, what is included in the painting is truly growing near the creek in this amazing park within Jacksonville, Florida. 
 

     Our city is blessed with a wealth of parks, preserves, and nature trails. The arboretum was rescued from unused land owned by the city (which had acquired it after a mining company had strip-mined it for materials used to make titanium). Although illegal dumping and the residue of mining had compromised the area, some citizens could envision its future as an arboretum and natural recreational site. You can read more about the delightful park it has become and see photos here. My husband, a master gardener and member of the North Florida Native Plant Society, worked on clearing and planting projects with many other volunteers. My previous posts about visiting the arboretum also show its uniquely North Florida beauty.
                                                                                     

One of the reference photos used in painting

     I used a mostly cool palette for this painting because it represents a transitional season toward the end of winter, when vegetation here is more subdued in hue than in spring and summer. The acrylic paints used include cobalt, cerulean, Payne's grey, lemon yellow, yellow ochre, burnt umber, and titanium white with a few touches of naphthol red to temper and vary the greens.

     I hope you enjoy taking a walk in the arboretum with me.

Question of the day: What kinds of natural environments have been restored and preserved in your area?

"Overlooking Orange Lake", a Painting with Mimosa Tree

     The acrylic painting, "Overlooking Orange Lake", a scene which includes a mimosa tree, is complete after many months of being put away while I worked on other projects. I painted the first stage--the entire background and grassy foreground--at a wonderful two-day plein air workshop in May of 2015. I have searched this blog in vain for the post in which I told you all about that workshop. Oh my. That post never appeared, and I apologize for the omission; it was a complicated time for me. Since telling you about the workshop along with information about this particular painting would get too long, I will post in a few weeks about the two-day workshop itself and the excellent team of artists who taught it.

     Painting en plein air with acrylic paints was completely new to me and was difficult for several reasons. As a studio painter, I am used to taking my time and developing a painting carefully. Yes, what I paint is based on my personal adventures in beautiful coastal North Florida, but the outdoor time is spent observing in detail, making sketches, notes about color and atmosphere, and taking reference photos. Painting as quickly as plein air requires in order to capture the light and look of the moment was a real challenge for me--and an excellent learning experience. A second difficulty--or cluster of difficulties-- included the weather (heat and humidity in this case), wind (my work blew off the easel onto the grass at one point), bugs, etc. as well as constantly battling the quick drying time of acrylics with pared down equipment.

     So, it was a small victory to block in the entire scene and to cover this 14" x 18", 1 1/2" deep gallery-wrapped canvas with the underpainting in the short time allowed for this particular exercise on day two. The main benefit of painting en plein air is to observe a scene and paint at the same time. Thus, painters can capture precisely the colors and values as they see and experience them. I did not attempt to duplicate the exact colors and tones I saw, but worked to get the feel of the bright afternoon sizzling in an unseasonable heat with realistic colors in the range of the actual view. Another concern was to show atmospheric perspective in the painting, especially because Florida's flat terrain makes a "long view" a rare treat. It was important to me to give the viewer a feeling for the way I experienced looking out over Paynes Prairie to Orange Lake in the distance. 

      Beyond adding the mimosa tree (for which I had color sketches, but nothing on the canvas), very little else needed to be changed when I began working on this piece again (after a full year!). I added some detail and texture in the foreground and completed the clouds, deciding just to "punch up" the rest a little. Although there was a large mimosa tree in the actual scene, it did not stand alone like a sentinel as it does in the painting. I left out some scrubby saplings and other tangled growth to provide this personal interpretation of that North Florida day. 

Question of the day: What experiences have you had either observing painters working en plein air or painting outside yourself?     

Painting of the Sun Rising Over the Ocean

     The painting of the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville Beach, Florida is finished, delivered, and now hangs in the master bedroom in the Jacksonville Beach home of our younger son and his wife. They are truly thrilled with it which is extremely gratifying to me after many hours working to make "Here Comes the Sun" all that they--and I--had hoped for. The piece is in acrylic paint on a 30" x 40" gallery-wrapped canvas. 

     For some background on the original request from them and the reference photos used, see an earlier post about creating a painting to coordinate with a room's decor. I was touched and honored by their faith in me. I was also more than a little scared to undertake the largest painting I had tried so far as well as facing the difficulty involved in painting a realistic sunrise (not overdone or cheesy). The result truly pleases me. If it hadn't worked out for their home, I would have placed the piece in one of the local shops that exhibits my work. That fallback plan reassured me during the process.

     The photos show the painting in their bedroom (taken in the evening) both with overhead lighting and then with softer lighting from side lamps as well as the painting alone against their golden-yellow wall.

     I apologize for the gap between my last post and this one and will try to write entries on a more regular basis again. I have completed three new hand painted silk scarves for you to see as soon as they are pressed and ready for a photo session. All my best to fellow creators, fellow bloggers, and faithful readers of this blog.

Question of the day: Have you taken on any particularly challenging projects creating art or craft pieces for people you love?

     

A Rewarding Painting Workshop Taught by Roger Bansemer

This past weekend, I attended a two-day landscape painting workshop in historic St. Augustine, Florida, taught by the noted painter, Roger Bansemer. The paintings in this post are by Roger, one done as a demonstration each of the two days. (By the way, I am trying to set up this post on the new blogger format and having trouble setting up the post the way I want to. I'm not sure how it will turn out--sorry if it's a little strange.) 


Bansemer's instructional painting television program has recently begun showing on our public tv station, and I took a look at his website after viewing an episode. Lo and behold, he offered a painting workshop over Mother's Day weekend only about a 45 minute drive from our home. I liked his painting style and his easy-going, yet very informative, manner on the television program, so enrolled in the workshop, hoping he would be a compatible teacher for me.

The workshop exceeded my expectations. As regular readers know, I tend to paint slowly and cautiously and to get overly fussy with detail in a detrimental way. Roger Bansemer was the perfect teacher to push me to a bolder, more "painterly" approach and to quash the fussiness right from the start.


Each workshop morning began with a lovely breakfast buffet, provided by the staff and volunteers of the St. Augustine Art Association, where the workshop met. Then Roger began the demonstration painting of the day, based on a photograph. He used acrylic paints, as I do, but welcomed students who were working in oils as well. His instruction covered all aspects of landscape painting, beginning with choosing a scene, then establishing the overall composition, balancing values (lights, darks, and in-between values), using a limited palette of colors, and other basics. As he spoke, he illustrated the method in his demonstration painting and kindly tolerated and answered our wide-ranging questions. 


My photos show each of his two demo paintings in an early stage and then at the end of the day after he had gone beyond the initial demo stage, using his lunch period and other free moments during the day to flesh out the piece. To begin, he rubbed a burnt sienna tone into the board as a mid-tone base. Then, he established the major dark areas, some of the lightest lights, and continued to fill in, working all around the piece in a balanced way. Clicking on any photo will enable you to see it enlarged.


After showing us the basics and answering questions, he turned us loose to work on our own chosen paintings and circulated from one student to the next, guiding each person's work. The workshop was very helpful to me, providing new skills, inspiration, and tips focused on my individual needs as an artist.

Question of the day: Isn't learning and stretching ourselves one of the most enlivening activities we can pursue?

Learning--New Painting of North Florida Beach, "Spring Breezes"

Adapted (fairly freely) from a photo I took at Jacksonville Beach, this painting shows a dune crossing at a relatively quiet spot along our amazing off-shore island. Wildflowers were loving the early spring warmth (hint, the photo was not taken this past, unusually chilly, winter) on a March day. "Spring Breezes" developed slowly, even though I had made sketches and careful plans. Something about the look of it seemed lifeless to me along the way in spite of the bright blossoms. Fortunately, I was scheduled for another month of e-critique with my painting mentor, Linda Blondheim, and she helped me realize my original vision--plus.

Today, I won't go through the whole story of the evolution of this piece. Perhaps I will post more details about the painting process soon, but for now, have decided to let it speak for itself. After all, if visual art needs words, we are not fully doing our job :>). Of course, some visual art is meant to be paired with words or other media, and that can be wonderful. That was not the plan in this case, and I hope it stands alone. You can click on the photo to enlarge it and see more detail, but I also have some detail photos to accompany a future post about the painting process. Just one note about the scene: If you are familiar with Jacksonville Beach, you know that our dunes are not really this high. Hence my earlier disclaimer about freely adapting the actual scene--using my "artistic license" again, friends. Just one more thought before I close for today:

Question of the day: For me, the paintings that I have struggled with most sometimes grow on me, even becoming favorites. Does that happen for you--whether in visual arts or any other challenging undertaking?

Exciting Opportunity--New Venue for Painting Sales

This 22" X 28" acrylic painting on gallery wrap canvas, called Textures by the Creek is now for sale in a lovely, classy shop called Trends Home Decor. I am thrilled with this new opportunity and will show more pieces there in the near future.

Through a happy serendipity, just at the time that I had been investigating possible outlets for my work, we attended an art reception at Trends. Our friends, a florist and a musician, were participating in the event--the florist having opened a satellite location in one portion of the shop. When we walked in, William, the florist, introduced me to the owner as a painter. She immediately asked if I "already had someone representing" me. I was momentarily stunned because that sounded like a question for a bigger name artist than me. However, I tried to act cool and said, "Not at the moment."

Well, no need to make this a long involved story--I browsed the shop that day with a careful eye to the art pieces, home accessories, and furniture sold there, the presentation, the clientele, and other factors that mattered if I worked with the shop. It seemed that my work would fit well there, being compatible, yet not exactly like, other pieces, and being in a similar price range. The atmosphere is classy, yet relaxed and welcoming. The owner, Lori Taylor, is a savvy retailer, but also a personable, caring colleague to the consignors whose works make up part of her inventory. She is a fine artist herself, with some lovely, interesting mixed media pieces displayed in her shop.

When I made an appointment to show her some of my work, she was very enthusiastic about working together. Her terms are simple and fair. So instead of taking a complex contract home to study and think about as I had planned, I decided on the spot to leave the largest piece for her usual 90 days. The only reason I don't have more pieces there yet is that I need to decide how to price them in order to make a satisfactory amount after her commission without ending up with too high a price--a new and interesting marketing puzzle for me to solve. I am very excited about this new venture and hope that if you live near Jacksonville, FL or visit here sometime, you will stop in at Trends Home Decor. 3919 Hendricks Avenue.

Question of the day: Isn't it interesting that sometimes we have to struggle and sweat to advance toward our goals, and then, once in a while, a sudden serendipity opens a new door?

Learning--Perspective Study--Jacksonville Pier Painting

Some paintings grow from an effort to learn or practice a particular skill. A few years ago, I worked on this piece primarily to practice handling perspective, trying to show the Jacksonville Pier extending into the distance. It was also an early attempt to capture ocean waves--not a simple task, either. Although it took considerable time and work, this is, in essence, a study--or a study plus some development. The painting itself is approximately 11" X 17", an acrylic on heavy acid-free art paper. Although it began as a study, it seemed worth having professionally mounted and matted when it was finished and now has an overall size of 18" X 24", which will fit a standard frame.

Given my math background and tendency to over-analyze some things, I tried to reason out the representation of depth in proper perspective on a flat surface. However, working carefully with several photos of the pier and struggling until the view looked right to me yielded a better result than all that meticulous figuring had. Interestingly, an exact scaling up of the pier and its pilings from photos to painting did not quite "look right", and I had to tinker with the sizing and spacing to achieve a realistic representation (at least, one that looked realistic to me). I am tempted to philosophize on appearances vs. reality or some silly thing, but will spare you that.

Question of the day: Is it just me, or is struggling to master something difficult more fun and rewarding than doing the things that come easily?

Learning & Growing--Magnolia Floral Painting

After several posts about cooking, which I call my other art form, I have another painting to show you. Since childhood, I have been nurtured by the beauty and variety of natural scenes. So landscapes, many with some water in view, are my first love in painting, and creating them is deeply satisfying to me. However, I  also paint florals and enjoy the different challenges they pose as a change of pace.

The magnolia painting shown here, which is a 9" X 12" acrylic piece on canvas board, evolved over a period of time. The vaguely Asian arrangement of the branch, buds, open blossom, and leaves emerged early in my sketching and changed little. Similarly, the splotchy purple background came early. Other aspects of the piece required more thought--and even some serious wrestling and reworking.

In general, I prefer creamy, buttery whites to purer cool whites. So my first blossoms reflected that preference--and simply looked wrong. Although hints of butter tones remain, I adjusted most of the whites to crisper, cooler tones, touched with blues, purples, and hints of pink. The improvement was dramatic (in my opinion). The open blossom and bud really "popped" and acquired more depth; the yellow ochre tones in the magnolia's center gained drama with the increased contrast; and the entire piece gained a new glow. 

The other aspect that required considerable reworking was the "lay" of the lower and side petals of the open blossom. Since I had taken most of my reference photos looking down at magnolias on low branches of a neighbor's tree, I had to modify their size, shape and angles for my intended side view. I often encounter challenges like this in adapting photo information because I am continually snapping photos for possible painting subjects or details without knowing how I might use them in a future painting. Unfortunately, I put the partially completed piece away for awhile while I completed some larger landscapes. As a result, magnolias were no longer flowering here in North Florida as I struggled to correct the perspective. If I could have studied real blooms, my task would have been simpler. Oddly, I couldn't even find artificial magnolia blossoms to purchase out of season, or posing them could have helped.

I am pleased with the result of my reworking and hope you enjoy seeing this painting. Working on an occasional floral refreshes me to return to landscape painting with new energy. And all painting efforts--including wildly unsuccessful ones--provide valuable growth in my skills, vision, and insight.

Question of the day: What creative endeavor enriches your days and gives you pleasure, even when the creative process is difficult--or perhaps at times, precisely because it is difficult?