Pink Cosmos

The word Cosmos in Greek means orderly, beautiful, and ornamental. 

The flower's fragrance and vibrant colors give it

 the attributes of peacefulness, wholeness, and modesty. 

The typical meaning of this flower is 'love flower'.

I love flowers and those that grow outside the confines of a tightly orchestrated garden are my favorite.   I guess I fantasize the "rebel" aspect of wild flowers over those that are cultivated and hybrid-ated and pushed so close to perfection that any individual personality becomes lost in the translation.  My friend Barbara grows flowers and every year is a new revelation as to what and where the colors will root and thrive.  No two springs or summers have ever been alike.  

These cosmos appeared almost as an afterthought...they were spread out in a field that was designated for vegetables.  They danced in the wind and I was totally smitten.  

I started this piece with transparent acrylics that work almost like watercolors.  They flow and drip and stain without the plastic-y feel that most acrylics have.  I simply wanted to make my hand dance like the blooms did the day I captured them by photo.

I put this away for a few days and then returned to it with oils.

12 x 9 on canvas

available

Apparently cosmos are edible and easy to grow.  I wouldn't know.  But I do know that the pink ones are stunning against a backdrop of green. The "love flower" certainly seduces.

...and just like that (snap) July is done?!  Enjoy the full moon tonight.

Feeling Pink,

Cindy

p.s.  I do apologize if the type set on your screen view is wacky...it won't allow me to fix it and I cannot figure out what caused it.  Sorry.  

Welcome Spring

It's been a long dreary winter here in the mountains of western North Carolina, wet, muddy and overcast when it was not cold and windy.  I arrived to find my usually creative friends suffering from a bad case of SAD (seasonally affected disorder).  Convincing them that spring would surely come was no easy task.  But it did....we finally saw the sun and all the trees got together for one glorious day and showed their best stuff.

The yellow green emerged as the trees decided to open their leaves but what always seduces a Florida gal is the color....the blossoms that appear even before the leaves.  We have a lot of pink here backed up with the white of dogwood.

"Welcome Spring"

10" high x 5" wide, oil

purchase without frame here

 

 

This was sheer joy to paint ...came in after walking the dog and decided to paint my impression of the walk.  I feel some more itching to get out!

 

p.s. after all the discussion on frame suitability I decided to offer this one without a frame so that you can choose how you wish to display it: easel, wall or bookcase.  Doesn't the color just make you feel like dancing around?

 

Cindy



Never be afraid to try!

 I love new toys...its my weakness: chasing after shiny objects!  so I was game when a fellow artist cleared her closet of a few tools for carving a block print.  Never mind I had never done one before...I already had a major project that needed just that touch. 

So I cut.

 My first attempts at "printing" were not so hot, witness below.  Then I remembered that somewhere I had another toy, a brayer, and if I put the paper on the block (instead of the block on the paper) and ran it over with the brayer....voila!

These were my first efforts: #1 being upper left corner.  Numbers 3 and 4 have some "spots" but I will call those "character" and not toss them.  Now I know why a numbered series of prints is so difficult, imagine how many you have to trash to get a decent amount...and I was only printing once, not several times.

Of course I had to try a new color!  Pretty in pink, no? Now, my concern is that the piece I am printing on is wooden...there will be no way to run the brayer over it.  And I will have to use oil (that's another story) or it won't stick and these experiments were in acrylic.

Oh well, fools run in where angels fear to tread and I am nothing if not a fool...about new toys anyway.

I'll let you know how the eventual masterpiece comes together, or perhaps IF it comes together.