Charmed by Lilacs

 

Lilac Charm, 
10x8" oil on gessoed panel
©Helen Read 

I love lilacs and am so happy each spring when it's time for them to bloom.
Their sweet scent and lovely color is gone all too soon, though... then we wait another year until they return!  The great thing about a painting is that it never fades or wilts!  The colors are vibrant and beautiful year round!  

This lovely painting is available unframed or framed (see below).
All the details are found at my website:
click here.

Below see what this painting looks like when framed, and also what it might look like in a room.

Creatively Uninspired? Here's Help!

 

Inspiration ~
that magical feeling that artists have as they create!

Hold up! Maybe not! …what if “inspiration” is over rated? If you are like me, there are times when inspiration seems illusive, and you find yourself saying things like:

“I don’t know what to create”
“I’m out of ideas”
“I’m not inspired by anything”
“I don’t feel like creating”

That’s when an internal voice entices us to stop and wait for inspiration to arrive with a spark of creativity. I’ve experienced that… and sometimes I still have those feelings crop up. But, I’m learning to get to work in spite of them. Listen to what this well-known composer said:

“I’m inspired about every 5^th day, but I only get to the 5^th day when I show up on the other 4 days.”
~ Tchaikovsky

Inspiration comes to us as we are working. Crazy, isn’t it? It’s rare that inspiration arrives while we are waiting for it. We may have an idea we want to explore, but really, it is as we are working that inspiration truly comes to call. Does that seem surprising?

It comes in the nitty gritty, when we encounter unexpected snags that need a solution. Problems lead to new ideas and new approaches. It’s as we are creating that possibilities begin to flow. On the other hand, procrastination (or waiting for inspiration) usually results in unrealized creativity or unfinished work. What might have propelled us forward is delayed or derailed. (This applies to just about any area of life, doesn’t it?)

I’ve said it before, and I believe it every time I start a new work; Every painting (or sculpture or drawing or piece of music) is an act of faith ~ we are giving substance to what is unseen. I’m finding that by stepping into my creative work regardless of how inspired I may (or may not) feel, inspiration will usually follow!

It may not feel like much is happening for the first 4 days, but wow! exciting possibilities await on the 5^th day! As it turns out, Inspiration is there waiting for us to show up!

Download my FREE Inspiration Tips pdf!  These are three things I use and that you can do right now that will invite inspiration!

©Helen C Read
Photo Credit: Jon Tyson

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Lakeside Sunflower Landscape Painting

 

Lakeside Sunflowers
11x14" oil on canvas 

Visiting the Chicago Botanical Gardens, I was captured by the serenity of this lakeside scene.

Such profusion of color. It was as if each of these sunny flowers had turned their faces toward me nodding in the breeze.

Deep shadows contrasted with the sparkle of sunlight.  A reminder of the abundance and
delight of nature.

 For all the details & pricing on this painting, visit my website. 

 

Shown framed in a black matte wood frame - 3/4" across the face, 1.25" deep
Framed or unframed domestic shipping is included. 

 

Wildflower Landscape in Progress

 Scroll down a bit and you'll see this same landscape done in watercolor.  Using the same reference photo, I'm now working in oil paint.  There are certainly differences because of the medium. 

Here's the progress so far!
It measures 11x14" on stretched canvas.