FLORALS

"Olga's Tulips"   16" X 12"   Watercolor  

The above tulip painting was taken from a photo donated to a website that I highly recommend to anyone interested in any visual artistic pursuit themselves, http:/www.wetcanvas.com.  I didn't know Olga myself but she died last year and her passing was mourned by many members of the website.  They began a thread in her memory for people to post paintings on that they did from one of her many donated photographs.  I chose the one above to honor her.

                                  

"Amaryllis"   7" X 10.5"   Watercolor

Our neighbor has a green thumb and a couple of years ago he insisted upon giving us one of his beautiful amaryllis to enjoy while it was flowering.  It was gorgeous, especially in the sunlight.  I decided to paint this picture of it and gave the painting to him that Christmas. 

"Montauk Daisies"   14" X 18"   Watercolor

I'm probably wrong, but I could swear that Montauk daisies did not exist when I was a child.  I first remember hearing about them when I was a young woman.  Because I live on Long Island in NYS I am very familiar with the town of Montauk where they originated.  The first time I can remember seeing these flowers in person I was in Montauk itself and I took several photos of them.  The idea of seeing Montauk daisies in Montauk gave me quite a tickle.  Doesn't take much to amuse me!  Years later I made this painting from my photos.

"Iris"   18" X  9"   Watercolor

One early summer day I was walking in my favorite park and noticed a huge iris plant with several beautifully ruffled irises of a very unusual light blue/lavender color blooming.  I had my sketch pad with me and stopped to sketch a few of the blooms.  I've since tried a few paintings from those sketches, and the above is one of my attempts, but I've yet to even come close to capturing the unique color those particular irises were. 

"Orchids"   14" X  9"   Watercolor

There's no story behind this painting, really.  If an artist isn't fortunate enough to live in a place where he/she can do a lot of gardening a greenhouse is the next best place to look for subject material if you enjoy painting flowers.  This was painted from greenhouse photos.  

"The Sunbonnet"   11" X 24"   Watercolor

The above painting was just dreamed up from my imagination one day and given to a good friend when it was finished.

"Clematis"   21" X 27"   Watercolor

Because I'm not able to do a lot of gardening friends sometimes give me photos of their flowers to work from.  A dear friend gave me photos of a few of her nephew's clematis flowers, a flower I'd never seen before then.  She told me they grew on a vine, so I imagined how the flowering vine might look and made this painting from her photos and my imaginings.  My husband's boss, the principal of the school he taught in, bought the painting.  He and his wife hung it over their fireplace and redecorated their den around it.  I was quite new to any kind of serious painting at that time and was flabbergasted!  It certainly encouraged me to continue on my artistic journey and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their support.

"Sunflowers"   15.5" X 11"   Watercolor

After reading a series of books by the artist, Jeanne Carbonetti, I was playing around with a looser style of painting than I normally use.  It was fun to paint, but I certainly had to work quickly which got me very frazzled and so I haven't attempted it again.

"Tulip Riot"   10.5" X 14.5"   Watercolor

One day while driving in an unfamiliar town I noticed a huge tulip garden that must have been at least 60' long running the entire length of someone's driveway.  The house was an older brown shingled Dutch colonial, and the garden was a riot of beautiful colors.  I stopped to ask the homeowner, who turned out to be a very kind, elderly woman, if I could photograph the garden.  She was more than accommodating and seemed to take my asking her as a compliment, which it certainly was.  I later did this painting from those photographs.  

"Hanging Begonia"   13" X 8"   Watercolor/Colored Pencil

I first saw the above begonias growing in what was an annual local neighborhood garden showplace.  The only problem was that the resident gardener was a rather grumpy old man.  It took me several years to gather up my courage, but I finally did go ask him if he would possibly allow me to photograph his garden.  He didn't smile, but he did kind of huff a 'yes' to me, so I quickly took a few pictures and got out of there fast!  A couple of years later I painted this from one of those photographs.  The begonias were growing in a window box attached to the shed where all the gardening tools were kept.

I've been battling in the friendliest of ways with my very good friend since childhood whether pink or blue was the "best" color.  At her request I gave her this painting, and I'm not surprised she chose this one, because she was always the lover of pink.  

"The Bedspread"   14" X 9"   Watercolor

"The Bedspread" may sound like an odd title for the above painting, but that's where the idea for it came from.  I was trying to make a painting to decorate a bedroom while trying to match the colors in the bedspread.  I finally decided to simply sketch a few of the flowers that were in the bedspread and did this painting from my sketches by matching the colors in the bedspread.  This was the result.  Sometimes you just have to improvise!

"Black Eyed Susans"   10" X 7"   Watercolor/Colored Pencil

I sketched these black eyed susans while standing in the road one day.  They were growing around the mailbox of a neighbor down the block.  They are among my favorite flower, so I couldn't resist them.   

"Lilacs With Love"   25" X 26"   Watercolor

Lilacs are my all time favorite flowers, so I especially enjoyed painting the above bouquet of them that I'd picked from my lilac bush.  One day I had several paintings, including this one, in the trunk of my car and happened to stop by my good friend's mother's house to say hello.  She was a woman I adored throughout my childhood.  She asked to see the paintings I had with me, because she was looking for an anniversary gift for a good friend of hers who I also liked very much.  I'm so glad this painting was the one she chose.  It made this a painting of pure love from beginning to end for me personally.  Both women have since passed but there's no doubt in my mind that they both leave lots of love behind in the hearts of many people.  

"Monarch Butterflies"  10" X 12"   Watercolor

Just thought I'd include this, but I really don't know what kind of flower these butterflies are perched on.  I just liked the delicacy of the whole thing.

"Spring Bouquet"   18" X 12"   Watercolor

Not a lot to say about the above painting, but as I'm posting in this blog today I am seeing a pattern of my not liking to paint backgrounds!

"Flowers in Basket"   16" X 22"   Watercolor

I painted the above painting for the challenge of doing the basket, really, and it turned out to be a fun one to paint.

 "Hibiscus"   12" X 9"   Watercolor

We live in Florida during the winter.  One day last winter I sat in my driveway and sketched one of the hibiscus growing there and then decided to turn the sketch into this quick painting.  As I look at it now I can see that the painting needs more work.  That's something I all too often think about when I look at one of my paintings--that I want to unframe it and fix it.  Very aggravating!  Luckily, I still have this one and it's not framed, so I can easily tackle it again.

"Sunflower Bouquet"   24" X 28"   Watercolor

The painting above is quite a bit brighter than it photographed and I must admit it's one of my very favorites.  I was photographing farm stands on the East End of Long Island and noticed the above bucket of these various varieties of sunflowers in one of them.  It was something I really wanted to paint and when i got around to doing it it was like painting a puzzle.  Because, much to my dismay, I don't have a window above my kitchen sink this painting is hanging there now to bring a little sunshine inside.  

"Frank's Fronds"   15" X 9"   Watercolor

If ever there was a painting that was a puzzle to paint, though, it was the one above, my neighbor's palm bush.  I was fascinated by how the frond leaves had grown interlocked as they did.  When I painted it I did each leaf separately, of course, and then I had to paint each piece of sky in between separately.  It was challenging, but turned out to be lots of fun, to paint.

"Mother's Day Bouquet"   22" X 15"   Watercolor

Our oldest son and his wife sent me the above bouquet for Mother's Day two years ago and it was an exceptionally beautiful one.  I wanted to paint the bouquet from real life, but I'm so good at procrastinating that I didn't get around to it while the bouquet was at it's best, I'm afraid.  When I finally did sit down to sketch it I knocked the vase over!  I was feeling frivolous that day, so I decided to add a bit of imagination and paint the flowers "in mid air".  This is the silly painting that came from all of that. 

To the viewer I hope you've enjoyed the flower show above and it's put a smile in your heart today.