Easter Lilies (Palette Knife)

Easter lilies, day lilies, tiger lilies, surprise lilies, calla lilies, stargazer lilies, water lilies... I do love a good lily. I love seeing them... growing them... and painting them too.

This one's different.

It's not very colorful... and it's a pretty loose style....

There are several different meanings listed for the Easter lily. One is that it's symbolic of new beginnings.  I like that. I'm kind of at a place of rediscovering, redefining, and reclaiming myself as an artist. 

Maybe this Easter lily will be a new beginning for me.

I love it.

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Pansies (Palette Knife)

What better way to start the painting year off than to smear some paint on the canvas with a palette knife!

I've never been a very good new year's resolution maker. Some of my art friends are very systematic with their intentions for the year. Perhaps I should put some thought into mine.  When I was in the classroom, I had a poster on the wall that said, "A Goal Without A Plan Is Just A Wish." With that in mind, we'll see if I can turn these wishes into goals...

• I wish I could draw better.
• I commit to Forty by February. (That's one sketch or drawing each day in January plus the ones I did at the end of December for the drawing class I participated in.)
• I wish I would paint in a more loose style.
• I will use the palette knife for a painting each month.
• I wish I would sell more paintings.
• Maybe this one's still a wish, but I'm off to a good start since this one sold already and the one on the easel is a commission piece.  That's 100% so far in 2022!

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 10" Wrapped Canvas

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February Snow

Inspiration Collaboration has been exactly what its name implies…inspiring. I’ve been encouraged (or forced) outside my comfort zone and painted things that I’d never have considered. I’m a better artist because of it. 

I do love color, but through Sara’s images and words, I’ve grown to see that lots of color is not a requirement for a picture to be beautiful. Her very first inspiration image was Barely There. When I saw that 24 months ago, I thought, “Oh, dear… I can’t do this… The image is… well… barely there!” But, I did paint a response to that one as well as the 35 that followed.  What a rigorous artistic endeavor! What a pleasure! 

I took this reference photo in February of 2011.  It’s the view from our mailbox looking across the highway. That’s not a typo.  I’ve had the image in a photo file for 10 years.  I chose to use this image, this style, and this color palette for Sara’s A New Adventure to honor her.

Original Oil Painting on 9"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

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Winter Cardinal (Palette Knife)

 

I've been thinking about the beginning of Inspiration Collaboration and the closing of it at the end of this year. 

There was an idea... Sara wrote, "... it would challenge me to get out of my comfort zone... get my brain working in different ways."  I replied, "I've had a restless feeling that it's time for something new... different... challenging..." 

72 hours and countless e-mails later, our idea had a name, a blog, an Instagram account, a Pinterest board, and participants were invited. 

In the last 24 months, I have indeed been challenged to think and create outside my comfort zone.  I know I've grown as a painter, writer, and friend because of my work with Inspiration Collaboration.  

My first inspiration image was SnowCardinal.  Winter Cardinal brings me full-circle as my last inspiration image.

I was prompted to do this cardinal painting for my weekly-ish painting challenge with my art mentor/friend.  The topic was "Winter Scenes & Winter Things."

Thanks to Annie Troe for her very helpful YouTube lesson.

Palette Knife Painting on 8"x 8" Wrapped Canvas

[GIFT]

Cottage Flowers

Each month I look at Sara's Inspiration Image and read her thoughts. Then I let it simmer in the back of my mind for a while and wait for an idea to come to me for my next painting.  This month was different. I kept being pulled back to and in to her photograph. I loved everything about it.  

1st... It featured my favorite color combinations.

2nd... It held a story.  I don't know the story, but I can wonder... 

• Who planted the flowers?  Maybe he gave her the flowers as a gift and she planted the bulbs. 
• What once grew in the window box? Maybe it was more flowers or some herbs.
• Why did they paint the window frames turquoise? Maybe it was her favorite color and made her smile.

3rd... It fit within my favorite descriptive combination: 

    Elegance within simplicity.

This painting was done as my submission to August's Inspiration Collaboration.  Thank you https://www.instagram.com/saraharley.studio/ for your lovely photograph/inspiration image/reference photo.

One more thing...

I have a nail in this tree and always hang my paintings here to photograph them once they're finished.  My butterfly plant (I'm sure it has a name...) is blooming purple right beside it right now.  love, Love, LOVE!

Oh, how I'm going to enjoy seeing this on my own wall while it waits for its forever home.  Full disclosure, as soon as it's dry enough, I plan to touch the textured surface with my fingertips each time I pass by it.

Original Palette Knife Oil Painting on 8"x 10" Wrapped Canvas

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Peace Like a River II

If you were in a rowboat floating down this stream, would you want to reach down and glide your fingers across the water?

I would.

If you stood in front of this painting on the wall, would you want to reach out and stroke your fingers across the canvas? 

I would.

If you like the way this image makes you feel, wouldn't you want to know how it feels? 

I would.

I'm so drawn to palette knife paintings both on a visual and a tactile level.  I love the looseness of the strokes and the texture of the painted surface.  

Style fascinates me.  Do we choose our style? Or, is it just what comes naturally?  Can we change our style? Should we even try? How would I describe my style? How would others describe it?

I struggle with being painterly with a brush.  I know that.  I start a new painting and be determined to be looser, have softer edges, use more muted colors... Then I get going and slip right back into my own style.  That's okay.  I like bright colors and close likenesses.

But, with a palette knife... Ahhh... there's a freedom... a freedom to give an impression, to create a mood, to veer from the reference photo.

When I began to experiment with using a palette knife, I turned to YouTube tutorials.  One of the first I tried was this same image. In that first attempt, it was awkward and frustrating, and I'm pretty sure I want back over it with a brush to "touch it up" and "finish it."

Sara's inspiration image photograph, Pondering, from this month's Inspiration Collaboration challenge made me want to revisit this lily pond.

I am going to enjoy it on my wall so much.  And, I'm probably going to run my fingers across it's textured surface often.  One day I'll get notification that someone has purchased it.  I'll be so happy for the person who wants it... and a little sad to wrap it up and see it go.

Palette Knife Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas

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Pink Tulips on Gray (Palette Knife)

Here's my third try, my third YouTube lesson on this series of painting tulips with a palette knife. 

It seems like I ought be feeling more confident.  
Nope... Each stroke gives me a tiny anxiety attack.  

One of the things that I love about oil painting is that it's so forgiving; if you mess up with a misplaced brushstroke or color choice, you can just blend it, scrape it off, or paint over it. That doesn't seem to be the case with palette knife painting.  If you lay a slice of paint down in the wrong place, you just figure out how to make it look like a leaf that you wanted there.

The process was different.  
It was fun.  
I liked the final products.  
I'm going to enjoy seeing them hang on my own wall for a while.

Original oil painting on 10"x 10" wrapped canvas.
[SOLD]

Red Tulips on Purple (Palette Knife)

There's a lesson on YouTube for just about anything you might want to learn.  This palette knife lesson was so easy to follow.  And there are three, so we'll see if I get better on the next two.

I love the textures of a palette knife painting.  It just begs to be touched... only I can't... yet... It has so much paint in places, and gobs of oil paint take soooooo long to be completely dry.

The thing that mesmerizes me about a palette knife painting is that if you look at any small square inch, it's just a mess, but when you take in the whole image, it has its own beauty.

I remember something that my art teacher said. "The eye sees what's there, but the mind takes over and fills in the gaps."

Oil painting on 10"x 10" wrapped canvas

[SOLD]

The Swing

When I finish a painting, I'm usually ready to hand it off to its new owner before it's even dry.
But, I'm going to enjoy this one as long as I can.  I used a palette knife and lots of paint.  I can't wait til it's dry so I can touch the rough bark on that tree trunk, run my fingers over the tall grass, feel the wispy leaves of  willow-like tree...

Original Oil Painting - 24"x 36" 
[SOLD]