Calendula Mini

 There is something so rewarding about growing flowers and plants from seeds! I love watching that first little sprout, and the first tiny leaves unfold!  Imagine my joy when that plant grows into this beautiful flower!  I hope to plant these outside, too, where I will paint them in glorious masses!  Painting 4988 in 4988 days. 

White Rose of Sharon

 

The Rose of Sharon is blooming, and I can't resist capturing it's beauty with a quick sketch!  The only color I remember from childhood, the two parent plants of this one spread out beneath two large trees on the front lawn.  My brother and I used to climb between them, stepping across the propane tank as a bridge.  A white picnic table sat under the branches in the shade, where we gathered with family.  As these reseed abundantly, I have moved many of them to other parts of the property, where they now bloom, too. This beauty is behind an old shed, in a secluded part of my garden.  Who knew I would sow the seeds of my childhood on this ancestral land - and then paint them?  Painting number 4928 in 4928 days. 

Sunflower Dance

We're still dry and this wild sunflower is fading fast, so I am painting it while I still can.  Focusing on just one bright bloom, I sketch out the form in paint before blocking in the masses. I'm using my altoid palette while painting the 7x5 panel, and turning it upright on my thumb box.  This is a wonderful size for the garden, and I can paint this side quickly and move onto a second.  Or, in this case, I have 7 paintings to frame and two to ship, so I have to get back to work!  It's time to pay the piper after a whole weekend of family fun.  Painting number 5151 in 5151 days. 

Butterfly and Lily

 

This afternoon finds me painting in my flowers - in between the many garden tasks!  I have been told this variety of lily is very old - pre-civil war, in fact. I have them everywhere, and have only seen them in another old property  - the home of Amelia Earhart in Atchison, Kansas.  Very full and vibrant, the butterflies love them - and this cloudless sulphur danced among them today.  With only a tiny painting window, I am painting small today, 3x4, and the texture is very rough.  A bit of a challenge on a small piece, to be sure. The very best part of this size is that I am quickly done!  Painting number 5096 in 5096 days. 

Hot Pink Geranium

This hot pink geranium has wintered indoors for the last two years and it is still sending up blooms for me to paint!  There is something magical about flowers blooming indoors during the winter months! I just had to paint this glorious bloom at it's peak towards the end of this busy day!  Painting number 4989 in 4989 days. 
 

Daffodil

Oh, how I love these days full of daffodils!  Each day, many more blooms open up, and I can hardly wait to paint them!  With only a little window within the rain to paint, I am painting in miniature for this one.  It is ATC sized at 2.5x3.5, and a joy to paint on a very busy day!  Painting number 4973 in 4973 days.  

I love squeezing a miniature painting into a full day of gardening - especially early in March!  What beautiful weather to be outside all day!  It was nearly 80 degrees today in the KC area - so much for March coming in like a lion.  I took full advantage of this day, tending to beds and transplanting some lilies and peonies that I accidently disturbed while removing a small tree. These daffodils are only the first of many more to come, and I can hardly wait to paint them all!  Painting number 4970 in 4970 days. 

Cape Primrose

This plant variety is brand new to me, so it is extra fun to explore it's form in ink and watercolor.  A cousin to an African violet, streptocarpus is a showy bloomer.  It's rich, velvety blooms are trumpet shaped, spreading out from central stems. I need to mass the blooms a little more, instead of delineating every bloom.  I guess I'm a little too "in my head" with the newness of it all!  My favorite grandmother grew African violets when she was young, so I guess this is my gateway bloom!  Painting number 3316 in 3316 days. 

Peony Impressions

Oh how I love these pink peonies!  The fragrance is intoxicating, wafting through the house as I paint.  Stormy weather has kept me inside, and I'm so glad I saved these beauties from the rain!  I draw my composition with paint, using a 10x10 format for this one.  I needed the square shape for those big round blooms to balance.  Then it is all masses and values until I reach the place where that little voice pronounces, "it is done! " Painting number 2326 in 2326 days.

Fairy in the Phlox

The first phlox burst forth in the garden this morning!  I love their heady fragrance, so like lilacs!  The hours rolled by on comfort on this cool day, as I worked on my beds.  With all of the rain, the flowers and weeds alike are flourishing, so I must get things in order.  Drawing from life, this tender phlox simply spilled onto the page and the fairy appeared!  Was it my eyes.... or too much gardening?  Painting number 1628 in 1628 days. 

Cosmos and Crape Myrtle

Cosmos and Crape Myrtle
Flower pounding, pen & ink on cotton, 8.5x9.5

Experimenting again, this time I am trying additional flowers.  You can’t tell what color will come out of them by looking at them.  For example, all of the antique brown shading  in clusters is from a pink crape myrtle!  The pink cosmos was very light, but the dark violet ones were true to color.  The greens kept their color, and did the pink vinca, and the purple morning glories had the strongest pigment of all!  The yellow centers of the cosmos also pounded out as brown.  It makes me wonder what will happen when I try sunflowers....will they be brown instead of yellow?  I really love the vintage appeal of these blooms pounded on cotton!  And, isn’t it cool to use the flower pigment as my ink? This is number 14 in September’s 30 day challenge and this painting makes 987 for me in 987 days :)

Crape Myrtle Sprig

Crape Myrtle Sprig
Flower pounding, pen & ink on cotton fabric, 8x9.5

Today, I am experimenting with flower pounding!  I have wanted to give this a try for years.  The first step is to pick some flowers and lay them on a natural fiber surface, cotton in my case.  Then, after covering the flowers with wax paper, I pounded them on a wood surface with an actual hammer!  I brought a large rubber mallet to use, but it did not force the stain out of the petals like a real hammer did.  Next step - allow fabric to dry.  I left half the crushed flower pieces on until dry, and then scraped them off with a plastic putty knife and stiff, short brush.  Next - and most daunting, was to define all petals, leaves and stems with an india ink pen.  I chose sepia color, to add to the vintage feel of this project.  Once this was done, I went into those lightly stained areas with just a bit of color, using my Tombow brush pens in matching colors, on their sides. This was SO much fun - I now want to run out and pound every flower in the yard!  This is painting number 13 in the 30 Day Painting Challenge, and 986 in 986 days for me :)

Magic on the Cutting Table

Magic on the Cutting Table
Oil on wood panel, 12x9
Craig Sole Designs, Shawnee Mission, Kansas - Stems
purchase here

Craig's floral shop is FULL of treasures!  Every view is a painting, and there were many things drawing me in - but THIS view grabbed me and didn't let me go!  So picturesque was the composition of chair, table, awning and all of those pots and buckets of greenery!  I set up in a tight spot, and painted in the shade - with an ice cold glass of lemonade served to me while I worked!  Ahhhh - life should be like this every day!  Painting number 888 in 888 days :)