Tiger Lilies

If you've followed me for a while, you might be thinking... Really? Another lily?  Well, yes... another lily. I don't know how many I've painted, but I like them all! Click HERE to see a few.

I know, I know there dozens of other kinds of flowers to choose from.  But... I do love a good day lily... or tiger lily... or stargazer lily...  That alone should be enough reason to paint yet another one.

There is another reason I've been practicing orange lilies though.   In a few weeks my painting partner, Julie, and I are going to teach another class for senior citizens, "Oil Painting for Beginners - Floral."  We loved doing it so much the first two times that we decided to do it again. First we did an apple. Then we did a bluebird. Next we'll do a single tiger lily.  I'm just painting a few different examples for them to have as inspiration... different backgrounds, different leaf styles... 

Also I'm doing them to be sure I'm confident enough to teach someone else how to paint one!

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 10" Wrapped Canvas
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Orange Tiger Lily II

I love orange lilies.  
I love having them in my flower bed and on my painting easel.

 

 

 

I knew that flowers have certain meanings, so I decided to look it up. Google would know what the orange lily symbolizes, right?

According to FTD, the orange lily symbolizes confidence, pride, and wealth. 
According to 10 Flowers You Should Never Give Anyone, the orange lily symbolizes hatred, pride, and disdain.
According to Flower Auora, the orange lily symbolizes respect and honor. 
According to the Flower Expert, the orange lily symbolizes passion.
According to Fresh Flowers, the orange lily symbolizes energy and warmth.
According to Teleflora, the orange lily symbolizes a 30th anniversary.

I quit looking.
I'm pretty sure you can just assign any meaning you want.
So...
According to Helen Eaton, the orange lily symbolizes home, joy, and peaceful times.

Thanks to these two cuties who volunteered to be my practice students.

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 8" Wrapped Canvas
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The Color of June (Orange Lilies)

I think of each month in spring as having its own color.
March gets yellow with all its daffodils and forsythia.
April would be pink and white with blooming dogwoods, Bradford pears, red buds, and azaleas.
May takes purple of all shades with irises.
And, June gets orange.

I used this thought as I planned a flower bed in our backyard.  My idea was to create a long row stretching from my garden to the chicken coops. In this long row, I'd plant daffodils in the front to be beautiful in March.  (Yes, I have dogwoods and azaleas for April, but those don't really fit in a bed of bulbs.)I'd plant irises in the back to make May beautiful. Then I'd plant tiger lilies and day lilies for a pretty June.

Let's see how that worked out.

This is the third year, and the daffodils put on their show beautifully!

The irises have gotten thick and beautiful.

Hmmm... Where is the picture of all the lilies I planted?  And why does it look like there's a blank row down the middle between the irises flags and the daffodils? What could have happened?

Here's a picture of the lilies before I dug them up
from my parent's last home to transplant them to my row.

Now you'd think that if I'd planted them incorrectly (Ummm... poking the root in the ground and watering) that a few would have survived. But not even one single lily appeared.

I found a picture of the row just after I'd planted it.  You'll see it there in the background... behind that aggravating pest gorgeous doe  who's probably teaching her babies how to search for my delicious lily bulbs guiding her precious twin fawns across our yard. The ungrateful thing can't just enjoy the corn we put out and leave our other plants alone.  We adore our deer and never fail to get a thrill each day when we see them.

Since I don't have any beautiful orange lilies of my own, (Insert my sad face here.) it was a pleasure to paint these.  I did this little painting to participate in the Paint and Draw Together Artist Challenge.  Every few weeks there's a new image for artists to use.  I'm fascinated by the varied artistic styles.  Every painting is both exactly the same and completely different at the same time.

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 10" Wrapped Canvas
Click "The Color of June" if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Two Tiger Lilies

How do you "get back in shape" after time off?

I have done a lot of traveling this summer and just didn't have that much home time.  Since I didn't get to paint much, I felt a little "off" when I finally did sit down in front of a canvas.  I decided to start with something small and comfortable.  I've painted lilies many times before.  These two grew in the flowerbed beside my front porch. I know I've said it before, but I do love lilies.

Click Two Tiger Lilies if you're interested in purchasing this little painting.

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.

Tiger Lily

This smiling orange face has greeted me whenever I've pulled into my driveway for the last few weeks. June is the month when tiger lilies are in their glory.

I love hardy flowers - those that come back year after year, that manage to survive and be stronger than the weeds, that are able to thrive without much attention. I guess that's why I've always been drawn to lilies. They grow and multiply and never to fail to announce that summer has finally come.

It's a chunky little thing that could be hung on the wall or set on a shelf. The sides have been painted, and the picture wraps around the edges giving it a sort of three-dimensional effect.

In the end, it's a little piece of June that can last all year.  Visit Orange Blast and Orange You Glad You Came.

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