Imagine a Place...

Imagine a mountain range...

     ... of cliffs and rock walls.... 

          ... that rise up from the ground...

                   to meet a moody blue sky...

Imagine a forest... 

...where the trees stand strong...

     ... branches still bright with reds and golds ...

        ... the ground littered with the leaves already fallen ...

Imagine a stream...

... winding through woods in graceful curves...

       ... reflecting the colors from above...

             ... and stones that line its banks...

Imagine a place...

... that makes you squint in wonder...

     ... "Who lived in that castle?...

              "Where do those steps lead?"...

Imagine a story...

... with a wand hidden in the grass...

      ... or a golden ring in the shallows of the stream...

            ... or a doorway ruin at the forest's edge...

Imagine yourself...

.... standing before that door...

       ... if you stepped through...

              ... you'd probably end up on the other side...

But...

... Imagine... What if...

           

"Mom, could you paint something for our new living room?  Maybe it could be like a forest... or a stream... maybe some reflections... or a path... kind of dark-ish or moody... and maybe a castle in the background... like on some mountains... kind of rough, not exactly realistic ... pretty big so it could go behind the couch... lots of reds would be good... with golds or oranges.... oh, and maybe some ruins like old stairs or a doorway... rocks are good too...."

Ummmm... That's a lot going on... Ummm...   I'm going to need to think about this for a bit... But somehow, all those fragmented ideas knitted themselves together to become this painting.

Original Triptych Oil Painting on 16"x 12, 16"x 16", 16"x 12"

[GIFT]

Indian Paintbrush and Butterflies Triptych

I've been wanting to do another triptych for a while, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

The Indian paintbrush is a pretty little flower... although it's not very showy on its own.  Even though it's a little scraggly and spiky so that you're not sure whether it's a pretty weed or a pitiful flower, I wanted it to be the main character, the most beautiful, the focus of the piece.   The butterflies think Indian paintbrush flowers are gorgeous.  They're fluttering around to help us as we celebrate the beauty of the Indian paintbrush.

This is the third of four painting for the bedrooms of Welcome Home Retreat. 
The first was for the Bluebonnet Room.
The second was for the Primrose Room.
Actually there's another.  A while back I did this one for the tiny private room, the Wisteria Room.


Original Oil Painting Triptych on 8"x 10", 10"x 10", 8"x 10"
[SOLD]

Red Poppy Triptych

If you ever come for a visit, this will be the first painting you see as you come in the front door.  If you have ever been for a visit, there was another triptych there.  It showed a little boy fishing in a pond with some ducks.  When that one sold, I wanted to replace it with something more bold and in colors I loved.  (Half of that worked out.)

The process was not typical for me because I've never been one of those artists who sees something in her mind and puts it on canvas. I usually just paint the colors and shapes that I see, but this time was different... Instead of a reference photo, I had an idea... (Scary!)

For the background, I decided to use only my two favorite colors, green and purple, with white.  I thought I would mottle those three together and come out with something unique. But... it turned out to be this blue... What? so weird! Not the plan, but good.

I wanted a big flower that would go onto two of the canvases, but I wanted that to balance out with a bud on the other side... It didn't. So, another bud  showed up. And, I wanted them to look like they were dancing.  (Yeah, I know... that sounds pretty artsy...) I think it worked though.

I wanted the flower to pop, so I picked the complementary orange.  For the shadowing I used that same green and purple mixture to limit the palette and keep some harmony. It had a yellow center at for a long time, but it kept demanding all the attention. (Yeah... artsy again.  What's happening to me!) That brown center... It's not brown... it's that same green-purple mixture with some of the orange... again... kind of weird surprise, but good.

In the end I did something brave. (Brave means it worked.  Stupid would have meant it ruined it.)  The background was lovely, and the flowers were lovely.  But, the painting wasn't lovely.  I put some of the orange paint on a big fluffy dry brush and  touched it onto the background.  And just like that... it was lovely.

It occurred to me that my 10-year birthday as a painter is coming up in a few weeks. Wow... 10 years and 338 paintings... How should I celebrate or honor that?  Ideas???

Original Oil Painting on 6x12, 9x16, 6x12

[SOLD]