Sunflower Mural on Fence

It started with an idea...
Then came the plan...


That was followed by a little faith that weird blobs and lines would eventually turn into something recognizable...

Here I'm working on some secrets that are hidden in a few of the flowers... maybe I'll share those later. 😊

There's a point when you just have to say... "I. Am. Finished."

It's a pretty nice way to hide the pool pumps and equipment.

Maybe painting fences can be my next job. 😉 (5651 days down and 45 days left in my old one!!!)

 Wonderful sisters... Wonderful weekend at Welcome Home Retreat.

Sunflower Harvest

Finally I'm getting to do this post.  I have been planning this one for months... literally! 

It started this summer when my dad planted an entire section of his field in sunflowers.  There were hundreds of them, and they were thick and tall and gorgeous to see.  I decided early on that I would learn how to harvest them so that we'd have sunflower seeds for our cardinals all winter.

There were big ones and small ones.  Some had yellow centers; others had brown centers.  Some of the centers bulged out; some centers were flat.  I loved them.

Every few days I'd check on my "crop." 

There were sunflowers to share with my friends when they came to make salsa.  

We had a sunflower bouquet in our kitchen all summer.

Then it began... The harvest... Who knew what a big job it would be!  Who knew how much I'd do wrong first, learn a lesson, and try again.
I learned the signs to watch for.  First the yellow petals would sort of wither.  Then the head would just sort of droop or look down.  

At this point I'd take my handy wire cutters (I think) and cut their heads off right behind the flower.  

The centers are covered with tiny little flowers.  Every seed has a little flower.    

I learned that it's a whole lot less messy to rake those flowers off right there in the field.  Cut off the head, wipe off the center flowers (all of them) with gloved hand, rip off what green parts will come off, then toss the head into the bucket.   I put one to three 5-gallon buckets of sunflower seed heads into my little VW bug trunk about twice or three times a week for most of July and August.

I learned to go early in the mornings while it wasn't so hot and I could see them.  They were 7-10 feet tall, so looking up into the sun was miserable.  I also learned to make peace with the bees.  Every sunflower had a bee or two or three working on it.

Another lesson I learned was to be patient and wait until the head had kind of folded itself in half.  That was a sign that it was even more ready.  (They just aren't as pretty as the nice flat ones.)    




















There's kind of a nice rhythm to the job.
Grab the stalk -
Pull it down - 
Cut off the head -
Wipe off the flowers - 
Peel off the green - 
Pat pat to knock off the extra - 
Toss it in the bucket - 
Repeat - 
Repeat - 
Repeat -





















I'd have to say that we discovered something very therapeutic and satisfying about raking the seeds off the heads.  It was a little addictive too.   
Anyone who came over would have to give it a try, then do another, and another... We had a lot of good conversation around the sunflower tubs.  

Yes, tubs.  
It started out as pans, but I had cut and harvested a lot of sunflowers... 
A lot...

A lot... 
Ron would come home from work and just shake his head.
But, my, they were beautiful.
Black ones, white ones, purple ones, flat ones, rounded ones...

The next lesson I learned had to do with figuring how to dry them.  I laid them all over our deck and porch rail... all... over... it...




But, the seeds seemed to need to dry. Easy, I put them out in the sun on the deck.  
Yeah... that worked... and the ants found them!
Ugh... So... nothing a little pop in the oven won't fix. 
Hey... they're for feeding the birds anyway.  What bird would mind a little baked ant in their birdseed, right!
Eventually, the pans became tubs.
Tubs of sunflower seeds all... over... my... kitchen...

It was FABULOUS!!!  I had a big spoon that I'd stir them with every time I'd walk by.

Then we went out of town for a few days.
No worries, right... The would just dry more... right?

Hmph!  I went outside after we returned, and heard a thump.
???
I promise this is the truth. A squirrel was sitting on a branch of our dogwood tree holding a sunflower head and dropped it when I came outside!
Little thief had been crawling right up on the porch and helping himself!  And making a mess while he feasted on my harvest!


Evidence under the dogwood tree showed that the squirrels chose not to wait until winter to enjoy their part of the treats.

Sigh... squirrels... they just won't listen to reason!

Original Oil Painting - 12"x 12"
To purchase the painting, click "Sunflower Harvest."

Flower of the Sun

When will warm weather come?

We had 13 snow days this winter!  And, that doesn't count the weekend wintry days!  It doesn't count the number of inside recesses we had due to cold or rainy weather either.

I'm ready for some summery days and thought painting something summery might help.

My dad grew this sunflower.  He grew two or three rows of them.  He thought he'd make his own bird food.  Well, he did... but it didn't work out like he thought.  Once the seeds in the middle of the flowers matured, the birds helped themselves.

Click Flower of the Sun if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Summer Sunflowers

Why plant sunflowers?

My dad planted two long rows of sunflowers last summer.  He thought he'd harvest them for the birds.  

They were absolutely gorgeous, and his plan worked.. sort of.  He didn't have to have to worry about doing the work of cutting them down and drying them to save the seeds.  The birds decided to save him the trouble.  They helped themselves to the seeds before he ever got around to harvesting them. 

The thing I loved about painting this was that I never opened a tube of green paint.  I had a huge blob of blue paint left over from the little boys shirt in the last painting.  And I had another huge blob of yellow that I'd squirted out to use up an old tube to use for the flowers.  I mixed those two and a little ochre to make all the greens.  (I love using things up!)

I had the hardest time with the actual petals.  I just haven't had that much practice with yellows to know just what to do without some trial and error.  Actually, I was pretty heavy on the "error" side for a while.  Each petal looked like a banana; they were all just too pretty.  It's hard for me to add that muddy, shady color that has to be there.

Who doesn't love sunflowers!  I love them!

[SOLD]

Sunflower Swallowtail

Where do you get your painting inspiration?

I love to paint what I love, and I love what I see around my own home.  I grew a row of sunflowers at the back of my garden last year.  They were gorgeous.  One day this little butterfly danced, flitted, and posed as long as I was willing to take pictures.  So, I had 30 photos... all nearly the same... to choose from.  I loved this one because the little butterfly opened up and showed off his beautiful wings.

So what will be next?

This is what I saw from my porch yesterday...

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Sunflowers & Butterfly

How do you decide which reference photo is just right?


This is a question I asked on the post from August 28th.  I finally chose this one.  I chose it because I thought the sunflower in the background showed that there was more to the scene.  I also loved the angle of the sunflower.  It showed the three-dimensional parts of the sunflower's center.  There was also something graceful about the leaves that I loved.  And finally, not seeing the full face of the sunflower allowed the butterfly to be the star of the show.  


So, I began painting right away.  Then I got distracted... by the beginning of school... by a commissioned piece, I Am the Legacy... by a really good book, The Help... by a challenge painting for RookiePainter...  a Christmas painting of the same little boy from Little Boy in a Big Fedora...  more school work... and all the time this painting sat half finished on my cedar chest showing a lovely background, some stems and leaves and half a butterfly.  It is very hard to go back to finish a painting after a time.  But, I finally did.  And I'm glad I did.\

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