Dancing Hearts

Bleeding Hearts, 5x7" Oil on Canvas

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This is the time of year (for just a few weeks) that the beautiful Bleeding Heart Plant blooms. The small bright pink flowers look like little ballerinas hanging from a long stem, dancing in the breeze... But, when you look closely - you see something more. They appear to be heart shaped puffed pillows, which have split open in the lowest point and are dripping out a white teardrop. (Thus, the name, I suppose.) They are very delicate - very beautiful!

Finally finished

Red Poppies, 8x8" Oil/gold leaf on canvas

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Here is the final version. The colors are pretty right in the flowers and below the flowers... the photography looses some of the color definitions above the flower and in the gold leaf at the upper right. I'm especially unhappy with the glare in and above the left flower... very tricky photographing these with the reflective gold leaf! The painting is done, except for some varnish which will not be applied for several months. I did go back and coat some of the more vulnerable looking areas with liquin. It may be a good idea to do that before applying any paint! This has been a fun experiment ... I hope to do more with this idea.

Guarding the Innocent

Guard Duty, 4.25 x 5.5" watercolor and ink

I haven't been completely idle here! But it has been awhile since I've been able to post.... there have been some other things - including family and preparing for another exhibit - on the front burner. Also, it is the end of the school year, which of course means that everything is crazy as we get things finished up! Well, here is another cat picture - the 8th now - in an apparent series! I hope that within the next few weeks, things will be back to some semblance of order and normalcy!

The work continues:

Red Poppies on Gold - still in process
8x8" Oil on canvas w/gold leaf
(color differences between this image and the earlier image are due to digital photography - earlier - and
scanning this time. The color is redder and more vibrant than it appears here.)

I'm progressing on this small painting - and think that it is nearly finished. I see a few more areas that need a bit of alteration... and it needs to dry thoroughly. I think it will also be very important to varnish this painting before handling too much. It seems to me that the gold leaf creates a more delicate painting, with possibilities for chipping and peeling than just an oil on canvas painting. (You can tell, I'm learning and thinking as I go on this!)

The gold leaf is still visible, but toned down quite a bit - however, when viewed from an angle, still very clearly metallic. Also, this painting is a deep gallery wrap canvas, meaning the canvas extends around the sides by about 1.5". For this one, I've painted it around the sides, so that the poppies and stems and greenery continue. No need for framing with such a painting!
I hope by mid week to have its final version posted.

As I've mentioned before, I'm working on ideas for a series of paintings now - botanical/floral in theme... (which is something I've always been interested in) ... and with the Matthew 6 verse as its motivation, "Consider the lilies of the field....if God cares so wonderfully for them, will he also not care for you?" For me, this is such a central theme to my own life. I see how the hand of God has stretched over my circumstances and situations in a very personal way - to provide, to gift, to touch! I want to portray that through an image that is understandable and in some ways quite common - but painted in an uncommon way!

New materials in the studio

Still in process - Red Poppies
8x8" Oil on canvas with gold leaf

Here is a glimpse of something new I'm working with, experimenting with, learning about in my studio. You can see it to some extent, but the background is gold leafed and the poppies and green background are painted with oil. The whole thing is a complete experiment for me - I've heard about artists using gold leaf with oils - painting right on that surface ... but I've never tried it before. There isn't a whole lot of information available, so I'm following my own trail here. So far, I'm happy with the outcomes - and yet - I realize there may be a lot that I need to refine.

You may notice that the gold leaf isn't perfectly smooth... in fact, it is rather textured. This is because the under surface was rather textured. I wasn't sure if I'd like it with that bumpiness, but it seems to add an interesting dimension.

Well, I'll be posting the finished (or maybe nearly finished) painting in a few days. I hope to continue learning about this - and trying new ways of using this material. I have some ideas for where I'd like to go with this.... more on that later, though!

More sunflowers!

2 more 8" painted bowls

Also 2 commissions completed this past busy week! It seems to have been a week of sunflowers!

4 small commissions

A closer view of 1 of the 4 shown below.

4 ~ 8" painted wooden bowls

It may seem as if things have been quiet here - not much going on ... the reality is, however, that I've been busy all week! I've been working on these 4 small commissions and 2 others, which aren't shown here. And ... it has been an extraordinarily busy week at work. This week we are putting together our 35th Annual Student Art Show at school ... the entire school library is closed down - cleared out except for the book stacks - peg board is installed - art work from several hundred students (matted and tagged) is hung - awards are presented - and finally, the whole thing needs to be supervised with several thousand students viewing it during the school day and then about 1,000 visitors in the evening (tonight) and the afternoon tomorrow...
whew... need I say more? It is heavy and physical work - but very worthwhile to see the students glow with pride over their exhibit. Of course, I am only 1 of 5 art teachers at our school - and we don't do this every year without a lot of student help ... but.... nevertheless, it is an exhausting week!

This week ~

Peach, 4.5 x 6" watercolor/acrylic on illustration board

This week has consisted mostly of working on commissions. I have 6 that are in the studio right now. But, in between things - I did this small painting of a peach. It is the 2nd in a small series of fruit I have some ideas for...

I hope to post the commissions I've been working on in the next few days.

New ideas

Red Poppies, 9x9" Colored Pencil on Black Paper

This colored pencil drawing represents some new ideas that I'm deciding how to approach.
First of all, even though a finished drawing here, I consider this a study in preparation for a larger painting - very possibly a series of paintings that I want to do - of magnified botanicals. It isn't a new idea, really - I've done quite a few over the years, as have many other artists ... but the idea behind this and some of the materials I hope to use will be new to me.

The idea comes from a small verse in the book of Matthew, "Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They neither work nor make their clothing - yet Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as they are. And, if God cares so wonderfully for the flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you?" This verse resonates deeply with me. It has been my experience - repeatedly - that God has provided and cared for me when I was at the end of my resources, and done so in ways that were far beyond my wildest imagination! So, that being my personal experience, I thought about how to portray that... and it seemed to me that paintings that depict the beauty and hidden surprises of the "lilies of the field" might be a way to illuminate that idea in very visual terms. But, the idea behind this seems to need some elements beyond just a painting on a canvas. So, I'm experimenting with some new materials - which I hope to be able to show you soon.

In this colored pencil drawing, I hope you are captured by the color of the flowers - which is intense and hot - and the surprise of the small blue, almost purplish textured, center. Also, notice the light which seems to hang like jewels on the fuzzy stems of the buds. Of course, my rendition fades in comparison to the dazzling beauty of God's handiwork - which can be found in the most common of places - a gift given, a reminder that He provides for all our needs.

(Matthew 6:28-30)

Pear ~ the next generation

Green Pear, watercolor/acrylic on illustration board

Well, I've been working on this smallish painting. What I had yesterday, I worked more on today. You can see the foliage has certainly been developed ... and the colors on the pear itself have more depth. I'm not sure if I have finished this one yet. It needs to sit and let me look at it a little while. I have some ideas in my mind for what to do with this and some others like it.
More on that later!

Pear - a watercolor preliminary

Pear, watercolor study on illustration board

Because time has been very short this month - various things - I find myself attracted to quick water color studies. I plan to go on with this one (as you can see, it is still very preliminary)
and refine it further. It should be soon that the next version is posted!

7th in the series:

Plant Play, 4.25 x 5.5" Watercolor/ink on paper

For those of you who have enjoyed the cat paintings - here is the 7th. The first 4 of these are available as notecards (see the right hand column of the blog for more information). These small paintings are a playful look at what goes on when cats are in the family! They are colorful and playful and not at all like the typical work I've done. Its fun to do something different!

Feather further refined ~

Black feather study 2

I've worked a little more on this feather and tried to add in some of the colorful undertones that appear in the black color of the feather. This work started with watercolor - and now I've added in acrylic (also used as water media). The "black" is actually a combination of colors including some ivory black, but not much - quite a bit of alizeron crimson, some ultramarine blue, even a little golden yellow. Though it is a little hard to tell from this photo, it is a warmish black with an almost velvety appearance. Under the feather, I used a little white mixed in with my colors and a little more blue for the shadow. The end of the feather that becomes fuzzy, used a little more yellow to create a browner tone. Finally there are some very thin highlights along the edge of the ruffled part of the feather, which are not white (they appear to be so against the black) but are actually very pale blue.

The technique I used was a glazing technique - of light wash over light wash, building up layers of color. It can't be shown in the photo, but it does acquire a type of sheen. I think I've gone about as far as I can go with this ... it is done on illustration board, which can be used for this type of paint, but it is certainly not designed for it. I'd like to try the feather again using water color paper and see the outcomes using a different surface.

Spring.....

Break is over ... and I am back home after a great trip to visit my son at college! But - as you may have noticed, I haven't been working in the studio for a few days.

black feather study - watercolor on illustration board

However, I began working on this small study last night - a watercolor and a first study for a black feather that I hope to refine and continue working on. It is challenging to find the color of black ... it is more of a velvety purple black and the color of the shadows. Did you know that black - like white - isn't just one color ... but has innumerable possibilities! This is a very first study - so stay tuned for more to come!