Painting in the Garden - Always an Adventure

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We have had smoke from the fires in Alberta Canada since last week creating a very gray environment. Finally, the air was clear and the temperature was perfect. The iris in my garden have not looked this good in years. In Denver, the weather conditions definitely determine what the garden is going to look like, or not, in any given year. I have not been outside painting, with the exceptions of my field sketches, yet this spring. And here it is almost June! 

All is going well for awhile until about an hour into it. I am enjoying being outside and in the flow. The occasional distraction of my puppy charging the fence barking as people and dogs walk by. THEN, a house a block away and down the street, which has been under construction for the past two years, started using a high power washer to wash the new black brick that this compound was built with. You think, down the street a block, what is the problem? It is the short block, and it is a busy street that slopes up to my house. So this street acts like a megaphone into my property when there is noise going on there. Another monstrosity, being built two doors down, and called THE PRISON by neighbors on the block, has not been half as disruptive as the one further away. It is like a microclimate situation. Living in a neighborhood that has been under constant construction the past 6 years, you would think I would be immune to the noise by now. It is not so. I don't think myself a sensitive type, but I am becoming very reactive to it, which serves no purpose, yet drills into the brain and psyche nonetheless. I had to quit working on the painting, thinking I would set up again today and finish what I could before my afternoon appointment. 

No. This painting was not destined to be completed outside. At 4 PM a wicked fast and furious hail storm blew through decimating my iris, among many other plants. Shockingly, the Particular stems I picked were the least damaged. I believe because the tree above provided some shelter. Iris in other parts of the garden were not so lucky. The good news is, that the buds withstood the assault, so not all is lost.

As of yesterday, not finished

Iris before I started

Noon light is bluer

Iris after the hail-could be worse! Morning light is red!

In the two photos of the iris, you can see part of THE PRISON. Thankfully, that piece of work is finished.

Lilacs

Day 3 -mostly done-thinking the 'vase' is too prominent

Wednesday of last week (May 10, 2023) everyone on our morning walk was talking 'hail!' So, I came home, covered my vegetable garden plants (we here in Denver know not to plant before Mother's Day-but who listens?), cut some lilacs, iris and hellebores, 'just in case' to bring inside. If nothing else I could enjoy the heavenly scent of the lilacs, or possibly even do some sketching of the flowers on the grey day that ensued. It did rain for 24 hours straight, but thankfully, no hail here. The area where I live has been called  "hail alley."

Sketch of Lilacs

Friday, so two days into the cut flowers shortened life, I decided to paint one of the vases full of lilacs. Being still overcast outside the arrangement was under artificial overhead light. I went and found an unclean previously painted panel, 24"x12" and proceeded. Sometimes, the first run on a used panel is the toughest, especially if the painting was varnished, as this one had been. I could not find a photograph of the painting so I am surprised it was varnished. Despite the effort put in by me, who knows how long ago, to remove the varnish and then sand it, it still lingers. The first flush of new paint means it is absorbed by the old varnish so I must remember to go darker and lighter in value to combat this phenomenon. It doesn't seem to matter - it all ends up monotone.

From Nicotiana to Lilacs- starting the block in- carving out shapes

Day 1-Black almost covered - allowing this layer to dry a bit

Saturday is not so gray and the sun actually shines forth from time to time. But in keeping with what I had started, I turned on the overhead lights. My thought was even if I don't finish the study, it has been fun painting from life and fighting the substrate at the same time. Today's effort felt less like a wrestling match and more fluid and easy. 

Day 2- Big shapes defined

Day 2 before quitting for the day- Lilacs holding up so far 

Day 3 Sunday is just to finish the vase. Which is really for drinking wine, I believe. I inherited it from my parents and is from the 60's when we first moved to Germany. I am not sure what it says on it but I believe it has to do with cultivation of wine.  It does have a handle but I have ever only used it for a vase.

Eggplants as inspiration

 These eggplants were the last I harvested from my garden before the temperatures dropped. I decided to memorialize them as I wasn't sure I would be able to eat them all. I set them on my dining room table being to lazy to go up to my studio as well as wanting a different venue.

#1

Here they are in front of my seat at the dining room table

#2

Then I went to the chair across the table and did the reverse view. I must be easy to please as I had so much fun doing these.

#3

Deciding I did not want to move the set up, I left it up and did this painting at the table. I did not have any clean 9x12 panels so I grabbed a panel with an old painting on it that was not worth saving. I like painting over old paintings anyway. This was painted in less than an hour. 

#4

Of course, I then had to do the other side too! The painting below is the one underneath #4. It had been varnished, which tends to absorb the paint on top of it which you can see in the top of the new painting. The whitish effect from the varnish. I liked the red 'swirls' coming through from below. These paintings are done just for the pure joy I get from doing them to see the effects. I could have spent more time totally obliterating the painting beneath. This was done in less than an hour too.

These acorn squash and peppers were also the last harvest from the garden but way back in the day. I want to say 20 years ago.

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly

 

Great Spangled Fritillary, 10x10, oil on panel available

 

My apologies to anyone who has clicked on this post to find it empty! It appears I did something to delete the original post of which I still have no clue as to what that might have been.

This image came from a hike I did last summer up near Vail, CO. I did not know the name of this butterfly so had to do some research. It was taken with my phone camera and I used 'portrait' to get the image up close and the background blurred.

In drafting this painting I did a thorough drawing of the butterfly so as to get a feel for the pattern on the wings before diving in to paint. The flower petals were drawn in as well as I felt I could get the flow of the petals better if I drew them in first. I used a red colored pencil which is still in evidence. I am not known for soft edges so the background blur was fun to play around with.

Plumeria

Plumeria, 12x24, oil on linen,  available

While staying at an AirBnB on one of the keys off of Sarasota, Florida, this lovely Plumeria greeted us at  the bottom of the stairs from our apartment. I am intrigued by how organic life is and the patterns created. The greenery felt like it was in motion to a tune I couldn't quite hear. I so enjoyed painting this for that reason. It made my heart sing as I worked. The flowers were like a second, softer melody. More support than out front. As I write this, someone playing the piano came to mind and how one hand can play one part while the other hand doesn't something different yet supports the other. I always look for patterns while composing a painting, but never before had one produce music!

New Little Studies - winter fruit

It has been too long since I have paid much attention to writing a blog post. I am not one for making excuses so I won't start now. I do have a possible explanation, however I don't think anyone is really interested in that!

Suffice it to say, I am here, it is a new year, and I hope to be back at my easel more than I have been this past year plus. Everything seems to be taking longer as I have worked on a number of paintings all year and can't seem to make much progress as in getting them done. I was able to get some small studies done over the holidays and it really was a struggle at the start to compose from life. It started with fruit my sister had thoughtfully brought with her from her yard in southern California. Who knew that is all it took to get me motivated? I am going to try and remember the order I painted these, but don't hold me to it.

Lime Persimmons, 6x9, oil on canvas, available

My sister had brought with her limes, lemons, and persimmons. I picked this lime as it still had a leaf attached. I believe I painted this first as the limes were going to someone else. As I painted the leaves visibly dried before my eyes. I tried to do them in a limited time frame although I did not set a timer as I would normally do when going for a quick sketch. There is an under painting showing through as I paint over old paintings. I don't paint this small normally anymore, but the size is perfect for doing these exercises.

Persimmon Pair, 6x6, oil on panel, available

Still trying to get that leaf in before it broke off, I did another little painting of a couple of persimmons. Two is what worked for the square format. I still used the same blue mat board and red rice paper to offset the orange. 

Stacked, 9x6, oil on panel, available

I wanted to see if I could stack the persimmons as there enough to pick from to find what might work. Who would have thought a smaller one would be on the bottom with the largest in the middle, but that is what worked. No toothpicks or other assistance needed. Just wanting to have fun as I got to know persimmons as a subject. 

These were all painted over old paintings. I don't usually do well with allowing the layers to come through but this time I did as I worked quickly trying not to think about anything much. 

Next my sister had brought home some pears to put in the pear walnut salad we do for Christmas Eve dinner so I had a new subject to paint, and I have always enjoyed painting pears.

Pearishable, 6x9, oil on linen

The Bartlett's refused to stand on their own, so reclining it was to be. I propped the one on top of the other for visual interest and to get a circular composition going. I changed to a purple paper and the wood from the table for this one. This was my sister's favorite of those I did while she was here, so it went home with her. It was a gray day out and so the light is more subdued in this one.

Pear Trio, 6x8, oil, available

One more before the pears became salad for our consumption. The Bartlett's still refused to stand up. A stubborn pair. Different lighting on this one which brightens up the study and adds reflected light onto the paper. This is the only one of this group that was done a clean canvas. Very different feel.

There are two more but I forgot that I hadn't taken their photo yet. So, another post to come to follow up to this sojourn at my easel to have a bit of fun.

Save the Date - Holiday Show - Dec 4, 2021

 

Day Lilies in the Garden

 

Day Lilies in the Garden, 12x9, oil, Available

 

 

I started this smaller work as a way to paint with my friend who comes over once a month for us to catch up and paint together for the day. It seemed one I could do while talking without too much investment in the outcome. I am pleased with the outcome which is a bonus. I finished it up on my own but it was mostly done in this friendly and congenial atmosphere. 

To start work in garden in early spring after all the snow we have had and waiting for the so soil to not be so saturated, I began to dig up those plants that are taking over my main flower bed in the backyard. The tubers of day lilies and the bulbs of grape hyacinths both tend to be in clumps with not as much dirt around them once they get thick from lack of thinning. I have not thinned the thicket of where these particular day lily plants are, but I did ravish the other side of the butterfly bush - the purple flowers and the green tube shaped remnants of the flowers which divide the bed, east vs west. Most of the foliage in this painting is from the other plant that has taken over, spearmint. A veritable thicket. I purposely let it get out hand the past several years because it is the last flowering plant in the fall for the bees. A neighbor has a bee hive in my back yard and I want to do my best by them. However, I got after the mint as well. I have no doubt it will be back, but it gets to start all over now. I threw in some Zinnia seeds last year that I really enjoyed so I want more room for those this year. 

I have left this painting in my dining room for now, so that every time I walk by it brings joy to my heart. I am posting it on this Easter 2021 as a sign of hope for things to come. May the blessings of this day be with you now and always.

Seat in the Sun

 

Start of a New Year - A Seat in the Sun

I forgot to post this on New Year's Day...oops!

A Seat in the Sun, 9x12, oil

To start this new year it seems a good time to post this painting. To remind me that the sun is still shining!

A couple of my painting buddies were over before Thanksgiving to paint together. As it was a beautiful Colorado day we set up outside my back door. It was very interesting as we all painted "the same thing" yet they could not have been more different in approach. I pulled out an old plein air painting that was not worthy of the title "painting" to begin afresh. I do enjoy the challenge of that and I am always surprised by how it turns out if allow myself to not cover every inch of the preexisting image underneath. I believe this one to be fairly successful in that regard, especially in the interesting colors and shapes coming out of the darkness of the interior of my garage. Keeps the imagination wondering what is in there? I did not plan it this way, but the color of the chair is also coming through on the wall behind it, which originally was a brick wall with white trim.

 

I don't consider myself a plein air painter, but I always enjoy being outside painting. If I keep it simple, as I did in this piece, the exercise is more successful. As I mentioned above, there were three of us painting together. I was the most zoomed in on the subject. Jeannie added the whole garage, and Marianne had the whole garage plus sky and trees and behind the garage, on a much smaller sized canvas, I might add. How she manages to do that is a mystery to me. That is what makes the world go round! That we are all unique individuals. Thank God for that~

 

 

Coneflower: Sombrero Hot Coral

Another painting from the road trip I took through the heartland of America this past June.  I saw this beauty in the garden of my co-pilot's cousin in Columbus, Ohio. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed Ohio, where we spent 5 nights. Gigi's garden definitely showcased someone who is gardener and I really enjoyed talking to her about her garden and older home, since we both share in those things. There are some distinct differences between gardening in Ohio vs Colorado of course. In some ways I was a bit envious but in others, very grateful!

I had never seen a coneflower like this one. It took us awhile to figure out its name, but now that I know it I think I can remember it. I looked so hard to find one like it online but Gigi finally found the original tag that came with it in her shed. Phew! It may find a place in my garden next year...if I can find a place to put it.

Shockingly, I had a clean, never before painted on panel for this one. Felt strange to start out on a white background.

Sombrero Hot Coral, 6x6, oil on panel

Solitaire- Water Lily in the Grotto

Solitaire, 12"x12" oil on linen panel, available

It seems ages since I last posted. It isn't for lack of work to post, just lack of will to sit down and write. Here is the finished piece of a solitary water lily. It was in a peaceful grotto on the grounds of Bergamo conference center near Dayton Ohio. It was an overcast day with scattered rain showers. My favorite light, local tone! I had been on the road and around lots of people for over a week and to seemingly have this place to myself was a welcome respite. Now how would I know about such a place???

The day before I had been in Yellow Springs, Ohio as a tourist. We went into an artist's co-op because when people hear you are an artist they want to show you what they know. But in this co-op stood a woman I had not seen in 17 years when we meet and spent two weeks painting in southern Spain! I had connected with her and her adult daughter and as is common, we kept in touch for awhile but the distance and time gets in the way and though I saw them periodically posting on FB that was the extent of it. Then to see her working in the co-op was just too much. She had just joined the group and only worked 1 or 2 days per month. So what were the odds I would be in Ohio, in Yellow Springs, on the day she happened to be working?? The upshot is we had lunch with her daughter the next day and I was invited to her place of work for the afternoon where I could wander around and explore. Not only did I get a wonderful place to decompress, the little art gallery was opened that day. It has the work of 5 retired priests. I am going to share with you a few pieces by one of the artists I just loved. Aren't they fun? He has to be 95 if he is a day but his work is so full of life. I did not meet him but I saw him. A bent over little gnome of a man slowly hobbling with a cane. It was delightful to talk to the two men manning the gallery that afternoon. One a priest, the other a brother. I believe this was the most memorable day of my 17 day trip, and there were lots of highlights!

Waterlily in progress

Here is where I ended up yesterday. I keep saying I really like the block in process and continue to hope that I can maintain the abstract quality and yet I rarely "succeed" in my own mind in doing that. It isn't that I don't like the finished product, but I can't seem to keep the under painting from adding that certain something that is in the block in. On this one the windows are showing through at the top giving it a grid pattern that continues here and there down the painting.

The image below is where I started to photograph the progress. I turned the unfinished painting underneath to its side so the the face wouldn't distract me.

Continuing to block in the greens around the water lily so as to get a better feel for the pattern I was wanting to get. ie a circular yet not a halo effect. Still leaving the orangish color of the figure's skin to help keep it from feeling too green.

Adding the darks of the water and more outlines of the lily pads to prepare for finishing the whites of the lily.

Lenten Rose

Lenten Rose, 9x12, oil on linen panel

Here is a painting I started this past spring. The other name for these perennials is Hellebore. They reside in my garden and they are a great flower for low light areas. These are on the north side of my house next to the sidewalk. They have great leaves that grow larger as the flowers fade. But as you can see, they do get some sun in the middle of the day. I did this painting for a friend of mine for her birthday. I will be celebrating it with her for the first time in too many decades to count. We went to Jr HS together in Munich, Germany and have been in contact all these years as we live in different parts of the US. I know she likes flowers and I do hope this will fit in the new house she just moved in to after selling the family home.

Lenten Rose in the beginning

She reads my blog so I am scheduling this post on her birthday.

Urban Garden

Urban Garden, 30x30, oil on linen, available

This painting has taken most of this year to get it where I like it and the camera likes it as well. Sometimes the camera "sees" things I miss. Or it will pick out a paint color that just jumps out of the image and becomes a bulls eye. Finally, it seems we both can agree, at least for the time being.

This scene is in Urbino, Italy, a medieval walled hill town in the Marche area of Italy. Which is adjacent to Tuscany. I had read that Marche was so much like Tuscany except less tourism and less money. So of course I had to go and check it out! We were staying in a resort town off season. But this resort town was for Italians. So not much English spoken here. While at the train station trying to figure out buses or even a taxi, for pity's sake, I heard English! This is after trying French, German and English with the ticket agent in the train station. There was  a young woman taking to two others in English. She was a student in Urbino and her brother and his girlfriend had come for the weekend to spend it with her. They were all from England. She said they would walk us into town and help us get oriented as my internet was not working and the map I had found online for this seaside town was so not accurate on any level. While walking us into town (lots of pedestrian streets) she said we should take the bus on Saturday to Urbino for the market. Flea market, antiques, and normal food market was something to go and experience. I had no plans as I often depend on serendipity when traveling, so market day seemed the perfect thing to do. Urbino was all up or all down, with barely any just flat areas except the small main square. I was quite taken with it. This is not my first painting from that day going to market.

Urbino Alley, 30x20, oil on linen, available

Here are paintings I did from the seaside resort area where we stayed in one of the only hotels still open. As is usual in seaside towns, you can tell the foreigners because they are not bundled up and they are in the water, if only wading...In October it was in the mid 70's and yet you can see this bicyclist has on a down jacket and scarf...

Racked, 20x30, oil on linen, available

Adriatic Evening, 24x24, oil on panel, available

I hope you enjoyed your little tour of the Marche area of Italy. It is just south of Venice as the crow flies. But by train you need to go West to go south! Be prepared for little or not English if you decide to venture here. I liked that aspect of our 3 days there, but I know for some it is not comfortable. It sure makes it an adventure.

The Path Less Taken

I am back! It has been awhile. It isn't that I haven't been painting. It is that I have been unable to believe that anything is finished...is that being stuck? Or is it just that I have been too distracted with other projects that this area of my life has suffered? If I am honest, it is both. It has been a summer of electricians, contractors, energy auditors and getting roommates. In all honesty, that is enough to keep anyone very busy.
Here is a painting I did last week; another one from my series from my trip to Milos, an island in the Aegean where I went this past Spring. This little seaside path to the sea is in Pollonia.

My son said he really liked it but he wants to see where the path leads. So I may just do a companion piece, but my thought is it leads to the sea and we all have our ideas about what that looks like. That being said, I must admit that the Aegean Sea is like no other I have encountered!

For me it is more about the journey than the destination. It is a sunny day with the threat of a cleansing rain, the island is abloom with spring flowers, and the sea beckons.

After adding the photo above, the image seemed too light. Some of that is from the lighting conditions when I took the photo. But it made me think it wasn't dramatic enough. I put the painting back on my easel this morning and redid the sky as I wanted the piece to have real feeling to it. The only other thing I did to it was to redo the dark hedges along the the horizon line. I wanted them to read more of a unit. Other than those changes the rest is the same. The photo below is darker, taken inside at my easel but is truer to the original than the washed out image above.

Looking for a Title, 12x16, oil on linen panel. Available. Contact me for information

After wrapping this up I blocked in the companion piece. It is the same size, same surface but I am going for a more abstracted landscape approach. Let's see if I can pull it off. I am happy with it so far. Here it is:

Roughed in companion piece

inspired by another artist's blog post

A blog post from Oil Painters of America came into my inbox the other day and the title caught my eye so I did open and read it. The title was Becoming a Better Realist Painter thru Abstraction or something close to that. I do believe that to be true but I wanted to see what this artist, Larry Moore, said about it. I found his article very well thought out and pertinent. Since I have not been at my own easel much this summer I decided to start doing some of his exercises to get the juices flowing. I started with the continuous line drawing. It has been a very long time since I played with that. Here are my attempts. The first two were with a sharpie pen, hence the spots on the following pages before I switched to pencil. His examples were more simplistic landscapes and I chose flowers in my garden. Flowers with one line is a challenge to be sure but it was a great exercise. The last one is of African Violets of which I had hoped to get some of the leaves in but I could not figure out without lifting the pencil. It is easy to paint yourself into a corner if you don't think it thru ahead of time and that is part of the challenge. As I wrote this I now realize a way to have done that but my logical mind got in the way. I just didn't figure that out until now...just do it! Go through the flowers or whatever it takes. That is part of the abstraction and letting go to see what happens. Happy shapes!

The next day I decided to play with abstract in oil. Here is my first go, where I painted over a plein air painting. It is not finished yet but you get the idea. The inspiration for this is from a photo a friend of mine from the 6th Grade when we lived in Orleans, France posted on FaceBook a few years ago. It was her father's collection of the different toilet papers from his jaunts into local toilettes. Who would have thought to do that? Pure Genius. I actually laughed out loud when I saw the photo as I remember all the different colors and textures most of those textures have never touched most American bottoms I can tell you that for a fact. Those shiny brownish ones were more like waxed paper than not. This is not something one forgets. I still have the horror of having to use what we called a "turkish" toilet and essentially consisted of a hole in the ground with two pads either side of the hole for your feet and only the shiny waxy toilet paper. One square at a time. I would say the average size was 4x4 or so. And no door. I could look outside to the parking lot. Not fun for a 10 year old girl. So who thought an abstract could bring back such fond memories? I always wanted to paint that memory she sparked. I still want to add some layers to it to see if I can pull of the translucent aspect of the waxier papers. The pink and blue were more like thin paper towels. None of these came on a roll.
on that note I will close for today...

oh what to name you? 12x9, oil

Southwest Hydrangeas

20x16, oil on canvas, available

This painting is from a time before time. It is dated 2002 so I know it has never been published or put online. Isn't that before the internet?? It has been hanging on a wall on the back porch all these years. I brought it upstairs to fill a spot where a painting sold during my last home show. Since I now see it while seated on the throne, I have had time to appreciate it more and I realized that I still like this painting so I thought I would post it and see if anyone has any bright ideas for a title other than "Blue Hydrangeas." It is local tone although this was painted before I knew that term.

I remember planting these blue hydrangeas in my garden hoping for a bush to grow but it never did. I eventually planted an Anna Belle Hydrangea which is hardy enough to survive Denver's low temperatures. I know that since then, there are now hybrids bred in blues and pinks for our climate, but they are still not as hardy as my Anna Belle.  Here is a painting I did of that bush, plein air, in 2005. I still like this painting too! This was and still is the largest painting I have ever painted plein air. I remember how fast it went together, although I did go out two days in a row to get it all in. It is light and shadow but with a very subtle shift from light to dark. I believe I was outside around noon or 1 pm with just enough shade from my house for my setup.

Lavender Hydrangeas, 24x30, oil on linen, available

My next post will be from an exotic island, if there is internet, that is.