Field of Poppies

This was by far the largest canvas I've painted with a palette knife.  I was thrilled when I was asked to do it and couldn't wait to get started.

Now that I've done over a dozen paintings in this style, I wanted to reflect on what I like about painting in this way.

💖I love the laying the loaded palette knife on the canvas and swiping the paint off.

💖I love the way colors smear but don't completely mix together.

💖I love the challenge of making blobs and smears look like something more.

💖I love that I get to use up old paint that needs to be used up.

💖I love that it stays in the ugly stage a long time before the image begins to form.

💖I love the loose painterly look of the finished painting.

💖I love to glide my fingers across the texture after the paint is dry.

Original Palette Knife Oil Painting on 18"x 24" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Poppy Field (Palette Knife)

 

I painted some poppies a few months ago, and as I was doing so, I realized that I don't think I'd ever actually seen any poppies growing.  Since then, I have! And, of course, I loved them! 

Our city has beautiful flower beds around The Square. The beds on the corners were filled with pretty red poppies a couple of weeks ago.

There's always so much to see/hear/taste/smell when you visit The Farmers' Market on The Square.  Fresh fruits and vegetables... flowers... someone wanting a signature on his petition... musicians... someone wanting your vote... pets from the animal shelter that need homes... well-behaved dogs (which means we never take ours)... craftsmen and artisans... friends...

I had two favorites today.  One was a kid who called out to me. "Do you want to hear a joke or see a magic trick?"  I said I'd like the joke.  "What to you call an angry teapot?" Tell me. "Steamed!"  Ha ha. Ok. Not sure how much the joke was worth, but his courage to take up a post and ask with a grin was worth a dollar in his hat. 

My other favorite was this band. Who would have ever thought one old guy singing into a megaphone, his buddy on the banjo, and his other buddy on a marching tuba would be so fun to listen to!  I hope their open instrument case was filled with dollar bills by noon.

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Hummingbird & Maltese Cross (mini)

 

It's been such a long time since I've sat in front of the easel holding a brush... about three months.  Why? Oh, this and that... Sometimes life stuff simply doesn't leave time or energy for creativity.  I believe I've come through though and am emerging on the other side of one of life's difficult seasons. 

I've never taken such a long break and was oddly nervous to paint again. But, paint again, I did.  And, paint again, I will... soon!

Thanks @saraharley.studio for creating an image that just begged to be painted.

Original Oil Painting on 5"x 7" Canvas Board

[ART EXCHANGE]

Poppies (Palette Knife)

I don’t know much about poppies.  I’ve never grown a poppy, and I’m really not sure I’ve ever seen one growing.  I know the poppies in The Wizard of Oz almost put Dorothy to sleep, and I know that opium somehow comes from poppies.  Those aren’t very positive, but I recently learned that poppies are a symbol for remembering fallen soldiers. That’s good to know. 
I do think they’re beautiful flowers, but my favorite kind is spelled a different way… My four (five soon) grandkids are so lucky to have my Ron for their Pop-E.

I do love the way this poppy painting turned out.  I'm going to enjoy it on my wall until someone decides they need it for their own. I painted them in response to Sara's beautiful poppy portrait photograph on November's Inspiration Collaboration.

Original Palette Knife Oil Painting on 8"x 16" Wrapped Canvas

Click Poppies if you'd like to purchase this painting. 

Flamingo Flower

You know that funny house plant with the red flowers that aren't like flowers but more like red heart-shaped leaves? Your aunt probably has a huge one in her sun room... mine does. You probably look longingly at it when you visit... I do.
Well, I bought one, and it has a name...Anthurium... Hmmm... That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.  But wait!  It gets better!  It's sometimes called a flamingo flower. I... Love... That...

This pretty little flamingo flower was going to be the answer to my dilemma.  I knew I'd paint a still life with a red flower and its shadow as a response to the Inspiration Collaboration March Image; however, I had a problem. I do not enjoy painting flowers.  I'm not good at them. I avoid them. (I don't mean big petal ones like lilies and sunflowers. I like those.  I mean the  fluffy, usually red ones like peonies and roses. I'm terrible at those.) Crisis averted! A red flower that's not a red flower!

Thank you for being my model, my pretty little flamingo flower!  I hope I can keep you alive!

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

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Red Rose Trio

Does is look like I have a guest artist posting today?  

Nope.

I painted this rose... did the whole thing with a palette knife, five colors of paint, and a great instructional YouTube video.

When my husband came home and saw it, he said, "Whoa!  That's really nice... but it doesn't look like you. It's really good though."   I love that he liked it, but I also loved that he recognizes what is and isn't my painting style.

I've been thinking a lot lately about style or art voice.  

• What makes up our style? 
• Do we get to decide what our style is, or does it just happen?
• Does our art style change over time?
• Is my art style different from my artist's voice?

Sure, we recognize Monet's soft impressionism, Van Gogh's abrupt blotchy strokes, Norman Rockwell's detailed story-telling paintings or the work of Mary Cassatt, Jackson Pollock, or Georgia O'Keefe.  But, what about the styles and art voices of regular people?

• I think of my art mentor Cheri's style...soft, lifelike, more beautiful than a photograph... I would know it anywhere (on a popcorn tin in Walmart, on fabric, on home decor at Hobby Lobby, or on the wall of my own house).
• I think of my blog friend Nelvia's voice... brave, powerful, and thought provoking... I think she intentionally changes up her style as she continually challenges herself to try new things.
• I think of the painting challenge site Paint and Draw Together.  Every month or so there is an image that artists are invited to paint.  I love to scroll through and see all the styles... All  are all exactly the same... and all completely different.
• I think of my painting partners, Julie and Tana, and how we've learned to appreciate and encourage each other's personal styles.

This whole contemplation of style started when I told my friend, Sandra of MMMQuilts, that I preferred the style of her quilts to some others I'd recently seen.  That began the conversation... What is my style? 

She sent me the question, "What do you think sets your paintings apart?"

I quickly thought of several answers like... "Nothing" and "I don't know" and "Hmmm..."

But, I couldn't let it go.

This was my answer to her:

Sometimes I think I'm still searching for my style.... smooth or textured?... detailed or smudged?... bright colors or muted?... 

I can't know how my painting voice is perceived through my art, but I know how I want it to be seen...
I want it to almost be heard...
I hope that my paintings either tell stories or evoke stories...
I hope they prompt either memories or imagination...I hope they are realisitic and believable yet remain painterly.
I want them to be good.

 I'm interested... What are your thoughts on art style or artist's voice?

Original oil painting on 12"x 6" wrapped canvas.
Click "Red Rose Trio" if you'd like op purchase this little painting.

Hmmmmm.....

I think this is the hummingbird version of "a kid in a candy shop!"  She's probably thinking... "Hmmmmm... They all look so good!  Hmmmm... Where do I begin? Hmmmmm... Maybe I'll just cruise around... Hmmmmm..."

I love to read.
I love to read excellent literature... trashy novels... children's books... and blogs. I love to discover a blog that feels real... like the the author is just talking in his/her own voice without concern for who is/isn't reading it. Usually it's one that doesn't have sponsors or hundreds of followers; it's just someone writing about whatever it is they're passionate about.  Whenever I stumble across one like that, I like to go all the way back to the beginning of it and read it through. It's like a novel (only better).  It's the oddest thing to do that because a blog is written in present tense, so it feels like it's happening now even though it might have been written 6 years ago.  It's funny how invested I find myself becoming in this stranger's life. Occasionally I can't help myself and leave a comment (even though my present is the author's past... let that sink in a minute...) then worry the author wonders what this random stranger is doing in his/her past.

I discovered one of these blogs during Christmas break. (It's always in a really random way that this happens... long story short... I'm fascinated by high and low tides.  I learned that Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world. Visiting there was added to my bucket list. The author of this blog is from there.) After reading a few posts of SharleyStudio, I knew I wanted to start at the beginning; I think the first post was done in 2007. It became my winter reading choice.  
Then one day in late January I got to the post written on July 19, 2012 and stopped. All of Sara's photographs are wonderful, but the hummingbirds and those spiky pink flowers on this post and a few more on the post on August 1, 2012, just captured my heart.

I gathered the courage to ask permission to use one as a reference for a painting, and Sara graciously said yes.

So...
I'm often asked, "Where do you get your ideas for paintings?"  
Well, sometimes an image just finds me.

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 8" Wrapped Canvas.
[SOLD]

Red Lily

How many colors do lilies come in?

What a surprise when I drove home and found this gorgeous red lily!  I didn't even know I planted it.
Okay, I admit that sometimes buy a bulb on clearance or get a plant as a gift then just stick it in the flower bed and forget about it.  When I get surprises like this, I'm glad I do it.

 I haven't painted that much with red.  It was a little tricky to add the white highlights without turning it into pink.  I'm actually not even sure I did it right.  I think I'll paint another one just like it and practice the shades and highlights of red.  

I also know that I stress way too much over the greenery.  I work and work to get each leaf and blade of grass right, then I just go in and kind of fuzz it all out.  On my next one, I'm going to try to paint loosely from the beginning.   We'll see.

Click Beautiful Dreamer to enjoy a lovely Etsy treasury (collection of related art pieces and vintage items) that celebrates beautiful things. Then visit Christmas Reds for a beautiful bright collection for a wintry day.

I love painting on these chunky little canvases so that they look kind of three-dimensional.    Click "Red Lily" to purchase this little painting.