Paint Day

Today was Paint Day, I almost missed it. I needed a reminder call. I painted among the almond blossoms today. The weather was perfect to be outdoors painting. I liked the rows of grass between the trees, green stripes where the fallen petals hide and the strips of exposed dirt freckled with the snow of fallen petals. The orderly ground stripes and the systematic rows of tree trunks against the chaos of the blooming branches make painting in an orchard a fun challenge. 

ground cover

It took me about an hour to up load these images. I wish I knew why sometimes it works and other times it won't.

These two paintings of the ground cover growing in Antibes, France. I believe the purple flowers are a geranium. It has been a while since I was in the south of France. These paintings are from a few years back, almost a decade maybe. I came across a photo where they were hanging in the background and it made me want to share them here. As I get ready to start a new painting, rosemary with it's blue blooms, I can see the similarities to what i have done with these. 

both:   24" x 24" oil on canvas

Ranunculus

This painting was done as a commission. Their home already had some of my floral paintings. There was an antique frame 300o miles away. They sent me fabric samples–the colors of the room it would hang with. and this is what came of it, salmon pinks and oranges, terracotta and muted spring greens. I found ranunculus in the appropriate colors and  joined them with some snapdragons. This painting with flowers very direct and prominent was to hanging a teenagers girls bedroom. I wanted the proportions of the flowers to be bold and direct maintaining a contemporary feel to balance the ornate frame.

14" x 24" oil on canvas

Show information

Here is the invitation for the show. I saw the space last week and it is a great space for a show.

red quince

Here is a preview of my quince paintings. Fresh off the easel, my fingers stained from moving them to take the photos. This posting is the first time I've been able to see them in the positioning I had in mine. Like the Cosmos painting having the denser image over the airier. 

I plan to show this painting in a show later this month.  

24" x 24"  &  18" x 24"  oil on canvas

quince on the easel

I'm currently working on a painting of quince blossoms against a blue sky. It is the upper part of a pair of paintings. The painting hanging on the wall, in the upper right of this photograph is the bottom. Similar to the cosmos in the previous post. I am interested in the relationship of  the duel perspective of a subject.

cosmos high & low

With this painting of cosmos I divided the canvas using the bottom section to show the flowers as if you were close and looking down. The denseness of the bottom section is in contrast with airiness of the top where the flowers are against the sky. The idea of the contrasting views of a subject has been one I have worked with for a while. My new series explores this more.

48" x 30" oil on canvas