Paint Flowers While the Sun Don't Shine

It's been a WET spring...

I try not to complain; but a long dark day in the studio 

when the calendar says SPRING....

well, sometimes a gal has to 

take things into her own hands.

So I decided to create my own spring...albeit fantasy and not at all accurate!  It would be colorful and fun.  Any time I confuse fun with easy I am taken aback and this was no exception.  I spent more time taking things out of this free form composition than I did putting them in.  But it felt cheerful to work with these colors (under artificial lights) while waiting for the torrents of water to cease.

Here is the assignment: create a bright, whimsical floral piece to close the gap between the lights above this "work in progress" bedroom.  

Here is the answer:

"Field of Dreams" acrylic, 24 x 36

I think it is asking for a broad gray/white frame or to be mounted on a larger white board?

It will accomplish the task of brightening and cheering up the space.  But easy? Oh my no.  First off I got way too many flowers on the piece and it was a jumbled mess.  As I culled the bunch I discovered I was leaving texture on the board that was not repeated elsewhere.

So of course I start adding some "fake" texture to even it all out.  Then I painted a silver fence in trying to give it more...more I don't know what.  So that had to come out.  And just as I was ready to cry 'uncle' I noticed that my stems and flowers now did not match up.  Just the thing to keep one busy while it rains outside.

I even worked on it upside down to figure out where all this was going to go.

close up

But all is said and done and I am ready to hang it.  No, whimsy is not really my playground but every now and again I have to stick my whole self in just so I remember that nothing is as easy as it looks.

Off to the framers.

WHIMSICALLY YOURS,

Cindy

Sketching in Oil

After a winter that wouldn't quit, spring has finally arrived

 in the mountains of western North Carolina.  

Energy is evident everywhere and it's contagious!  I am 

out of the rabbit hole, back from western travels and...ready to paint!  

Thank you for traveling with me.  

Let's get back to the easel.

It's easy to use "spring cleaning" as a delay tactic when wondering just where to start on a new painting venture.  If I find myself dusting shelves or cleaning toilets I know I am sinking in that land called "procrastination."  So I gathered up a stack of 9 x 12 canvases, put them on the table of my studio with a paintbrush and pile of photos nearby.  This is my "warm up" station.  The theory is to tackle one photo and one canvas quickly....not agonizing over every little detail.  To get in, get out and be done in no more than 2 quick sessions.  Good or bad results don't matter; the deal is to get your hands dirty and your mind tuned up...like stretching before a run.

I was so enthusiastic on my first day that I forgot to take early photos....I could hear the mental clock ticking and wanted to get my session in before I lost my steam.  So here is what the first swipe gave me:

Please don't recall that I once swore never to paint cows....after a week with grandchildren the expression on this calf made me giggle so I had to do him.  I let him dry, went on to bigger stuff and returned the next day to finish up.

Done.  Remember, it's an exercise....trying to draw in oil and work with what goes down.  Warming up.

So today while out sketching on a nearby farm I met another cow...this one had the cutest harlequin face with a white heart and a triangle just below it.  I tried so hard to photograph her and of course she would glance down as soon as the camera came out. But I wanted to try.

Now, if there is one thing harder than painting (or photographing) a black dog, it is a black cow!

Nothing shows up!

See what I mean?

But I'm going to try and this time I captured the rough stuff for you to see.

Really rough...but warming up.

Time to quit for today.

I may actually start using a timer so that I don't get overly involved in these warm-ups and defeat the purpose.  But for now this is fine.  I'm sure this baby will morph a bit when I return.

I hope spring has you contemplating new projects and ideas.  I have a feeling that flowers will be next up on my agenda...they are so incredibly gorgeous right now; and I think I remember saying that I would never paint flowers, so it is about time!

Warming up....literally, figuratively and colorfully,

Cindy

Spring ZING!!

99 days out of 100 I enter my studio excited to see what 

I can make happen.  But on some of those days I literally

 rush inside because my mind has been working

 all night on something it can't let go of.

Spring provided several of those wonderful days.

ZING!

That's the best word.

Spring was mysterious this year.  It peeked out from behind the clouds and then would sneak back behind winter for a bit longer.  Then, zing!, evidence.  Then retreat.  Then out again.  Like a teasing lover it played with us this year preferring to drag out the announcement of its arrival.  Which made it all the more fun to find.

I got a little abstract here as I pulled out a huge support and got to work purely in color and form.  See the gray and brown mountains?  That's what we lived with during the late muddy winter.  Then badda bang, badda boom: color began creeping up the elevation.  Like a time lapse movie, every day presented a new picture as the spring zing began hiking up the elevation.  I would choose a fav color and then, wow, a new one would emerge.  Call this piece a journal, it evolved daily.

And after so many months of seeing the stately trunks of trees marching across the fields it was like an easter egg hunt to spot patches of color here and there.  This is another out-of-my-mind's-eye piece that gave me a zing.  Spring Zing to be specific.  Ok, out of my system...maybe, maybe not.

I know its unconventional to share these without sizes and titles (and prices) but hey, they haven't even made it to the framer's yet and he always sees them first.  A quick spray today and I will take them to him to work his framing magic.  Email me if you need the details or just stop by the studio where they will soon be hanging.  

Whew, that rush was fun.  I hope that whenever I see these paintings I can conjure up that same feeling that spring brings when it tries to sneak up.  Zing! Zing! Like arrows shot out here and there.

Happy Spring to you,

Cindy

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



Dreaming of Spring

BUY HERE

A lot of folks are dreaming of spring, understandably!  This piece is titled "Basking" and was done one day after I was really chilly from continuously painting snow scenes.  I needed a dose of spring and created it for myself... the zebra swallowtail butterflies were the perfect cure for spring fever.  This is another one of my mixed media with graphite done on an 8" x 8" wooden board that is cradeled with a 3/4" deep trim.  No other frame needed.
(hmmm, my original seems much darker than this reproduction, I must have washed it out in the photographing...so sorry.)  Have a great week and may you discover a hint of spring in it!

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Damsels and Dragons...no, not a plot for a new story but the subject of my newest graphite renderings.  Just where are these creatures hiding now during cold weather?  No idea.  But these two come as a pair (each 5" x 3" x 3/4") and are ready to hang in a little corner where you might need a periodic "dose" of spring.  I love the graceful damsel...up close and in the sun you can really see the variety of colors they come in.  Nature provides some of the most gorgeous art challenges, no?
And, by the way, thanks for the wonderful title suggestions for the philodendron...I can't make up my mind (yet) but when I do I will have several great titles for future work.  I appreciate your help!
Cindy
Additional photos of this work can be seen by clicking on the "buy now" words above; have no fear, clicking will not execute an automatic sale.