I don't know what it is about this time of year, but I HAVE to have flowers in the house. Just seeing them lifts my spirits and reminds me that it won't be 19 degrees forever. Although I have to say that Paco and I had a wonderful time at the little beach across the street today - there was no wind, and it was comfortable to sit at the edge of the water and meditate. (Well, I meditated, I am not sure that he actually did.) So when I came home I dove into the acrylics and did this BEFORE I head to the studio to do the oils!
I don't usually post my acrylics - as Daily Paintings - because I'm not so so confident with them. But today I was inspired by my blog buddy Karen Mathison Schmidt who has a couple of blogs, and paints with acrylics so beautifully, they look like mosaics of paint sometimes - I could look at them for a long, long time. So here I am, with the puppy eating ice cubes off my toes (if you've never experienced this, you should try it, especially on a hot day) trying. But, as usual, I smooth things out too much. Anyway I ended up happy because of the layering especially of the petals, which has three or four colors of deep pink. For a girl who grew up in a tenement, and had no use for flowers when I got married, I have 'seen the light', and can never have enough of them. Cosmos oblige by re-seeding by themselves (thank you) and are so cheerful in the garden.
I had this gorgeous begonia (a different one, but same color as the last post) and I must have been a bit rough with it, because when I turned the light on the 'scene' and backed away - the whole 'head' of the flower fell off! This was try #2, the first was a wipe-off - I couldn't get the red to pop enough. This is better but still, not as 'zingy' as I'd wished. I 'grayed down' the aqua cloth, but I think maybe it should have been lighter, too. Ah, well, hopefully a summer full of begonias await.
The strawberries are ripening (if they all don't mold out - seriously!), and if they survive Paco, they're delicious. He loves ripe strawberries more than almost anything! and this Peony was supposed to be all fluffy pink, but had a wrong label at the garden store - we like them anyway! I worried about the lavender, pink and reds together, but was in the mood for a challenge. My days have been filled with dog poop, and I was just thrilled to be able to paint a Daily Painting. I think my pup-ternity leave should be over next Monday - Planning on being back in the painting saddle.
Here's how it goes as you get older: You wake to a beautiful, pearl blue dawn, whisper a prayer of thanks, and slide to the edge of the bed to sit up and... DOH! Sizzling pain in your neck, cascading down over your shoulder - for what? One bone in your spine got slightly out of line as you sat up????? So now you can't hold your head up straight, and your whole vision is tinged with red from the pain. Studio? I don't think so! Well, this was my day yesterday, and though I did try to paint (don't tell Tim, I promised I wouldn't!) because I couldn't help it! Nothing worked out that I tried, so I spent the whole day in a beach chair in the garden with ice on my neck, and a steady stream of Advil in my bloodstream. So here's what the garden looks like (from a watercolor journal from 2 years ago - everything's still the same!):
And below a splashy rendition of my beloved geraniums:
And Harry the cat, my special baby, claiming his right to Paco's newest sleeping crate (Harry THINKS he's a Dog Whisperer, but I bet there are those who would disagree!
Sorry! The TOP image is the one that should've gone with this morning's post - about the teacup - many apologies for missing the boat on that one. The BOTTOM image is today's Daily Painting - it's a red Gerbera Daisy in a putty color vase. I struggled with all those neutrals, but I wanted the flower to be the JOLT of color in the painting. In other news: can't they not sell Easter candy till Saturday?????? Too tempting.
The other day I was visiting my artist friend Nancy Colella, and our plans were to paint, then have a meal together (it's an hour to her house, so I couldn't possibly make it home without food!;). Well, we ate first, then it turned into a haircut adjustment (it happens, OK?), and then Nancy spread out the tulips I brought her on a table and I painted them. The blue tone from beneath the paint doesn't show up as much in real life. I'm getting into painting flowers - I never really saw the point, but now I'm feeling up to the challenge, and am very excited about it! Today we're buried (about 8 inches) in gorgeous snow, and I'm driving to Logan to pick up Tim from a business trip very late in the day, so I hope I get to paint today - maybe some snow?
