Pink Gerbera Daisies

Usually whenever someone finds out that I'm a painter, they say, "Oh, what do you paint?" 
I never seem to come up with a quick and simple answer.

"I paint what I like," is the truth, but seems kind of self centered and doesn't really answer.

"I can paint whatever anyone wants me to," is the truth, but seems kind of arrogant and doesn't really answer.

"I love to paint images that tell stories," is the best truth, but doesn't really answer and has to be followed by an explanation.

So, how do I choose what goes on my easel...

When I have a commission, that takes priority.

Otherwise, I think I have a kind of built in, subconscious rotation.

I paint something challenging or stressful - like a portrait or a complex scene.

Then something easy and fast - like a flower or fruit.

Then something comfortable - like a cow.

Then I'm ready to go back to challenging.

So, where do I get my images...

Sometimes I'm given an image through a commission, and often I do get to help select the just-right photo.

I also have a file of photos on my computer called "Possibilities." 
Sometimes I see something fabulous, pull over, and take photos - like interesting cows, a sunset, or a  breathtaking view.
Sometimes I create still life set ups - like fruit, vegetables, or flowers. 

Sometimes I see someone else's photo on Facebook or their blog and am overwhelmed by it as if it's begging to be put on canvas. (I know that sounds arsty.)  I can't get past it.  Then I ask whatever friend or relative (or occasionally stranger)who was the photographer for permission to use it.  

That's how these sweet little gerbera daisies came about.  I saw them on my friend Renee's blog post and just couldn't get past them. I could just imagine them on canvas. You see, Renee's my friend now, but we met by my randomly discovering her blog then one day my comment to her, "You don't know me, but I would love to paint your goats..."  Well, I hope I was a little more eloquent than that, but... she did let me... and we became friends.... I've been thinking of her this week as the rains continue to flood South Carolina where she lives. 

This little painting was included in a lovely Etsy treasury (collection of related vintage items and art pieces). Click Shopping in January to have a look!

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 8" Wrapped Canvas

[GIFT]

Black Swallowtail on Pink Flower

How long did that take?

I get this question a lot, and I've gotten it a lot with this painting especially.  Maybe that's because it's over-sized. (16"x 20")
I don't really count up the hours; it might be depressing to realize how much/little I charge per hour. :)

Let me think through the stages.

• See a friend's photograph on Facebook and get permission to use it.
• Choose a canvas size and draw it up. (I am NOT a draw-er and totally admit to cheating on this step.  I put the canvas on my whiteboard at school and show the image from my computer to draw in the main lines.)
• 1st sitting - Paint in the dark spaces of the background then add the green shapes on top of that. Block in the black and pink areas.  (They basically look like blobs.)
• 2nd sitting - Try to make the greens look like blades of grass and leaves. Add dark greens, light greens.  Make long graceful strokes.  Blend.  Fail miserably... Looks like a mess... Wonder if I've forgotten how to paint... Remind myself that every painting -not unlike every child- goes through an ugly stage. Give up.
• 3rd sitting - Work on the butterfly.  Add buff to the black to create light, blue and orange to create life and reflection.  Layer on the yellows and oranges. It's a good start. Work on individual petals of the flower... without success.
• 4th sitting - Determine to make the grass and leaves pop.  Get brave with more greens, use a bigger brush, blur the hard lines between the background and the main character of the painting. Touch up the butterfly. Give it some legs and antenna. Try again on the flower petals and flower center.  Lay in the yellow (same cad yellow from the butterfly) center.
• 5th sitting - Background... looks good.  Butterfly... looks good. Flower... looks good. Painting... doesn't work... sigh... stand back... sigh... squint... deep breath.. okay... It looks like someone did a great background, cut out a great flower and butterfly then glued them onto the background.  There's no sense of harmony.  Sit down and get brave again.  Add black (which I rarely use straight) from the butterfly into the dark areas of the background.  Add red (alizarin) from the flower liberally into the darker edges of the leaves and grass blades and into the background.  Add green (from the grass) into the flower petals... which by the way was a disaster... Paint over the flower with straight alizarin and white covering the rose color completely... Almost there... but... remember purple! Purple is the most amazing superhero! How did I forget!  Add purple touches to the butterfly wings.  Add purple to the shaded parts of the flower.  Add purple to the shaded parts of the background. Sign my name in the bottom corner.

How long did that take you to paint that painting?  Probably around 10 hours. I'm faster than I used to be. :)

Stargazer Lily

What is the most beautiful flower? 

The answer is simple... the one that's blooming in your own flowerbed or garden right now.

I love the flowers that bloom in my flower bed, but I do not love the work it takes to keep them happy and healthy and gorgeous.  I wish it did, but I just don't.  So... I tend to go for flowers that aren't needy.  The stargazer lilies put on the best show a few weeks ago.  Every time  got home, I'd go snap a picture thinking surely that day they were the most beautiful ever.

This week, I'm snapping pictures in my vegetable garden thinking each day that this may be the most beautiful ever.

Look at the fantastic dewdrops on this tomato!
And, how about the height of these amazing sunflowers!



Click Stargazer Lily to purchase this little painting.