Starting Out Small, The Big Surprise

In the 52 years I've been painting I've gone back to this sort of work (knife painting) again and again in sizes up to five feet across.

Today I turned the process upside down on a canvas panel that was only four by six inches (10.16 x 15.24 cm) and my smallest palate knives.

 
The real surprise in the process was that doing the small one was every bit as fun as working really large. it's just all about the colors and textures.

Knife painting can be soothing, in spite of the name of it.

I looked at this painting a while and then got kind of a fun idea. I used to paint vases and flowers using these as backgrounds so I thought it would be fun to give it a try in this size too.

Here you see it with one of the inspiration paintings. It was a real challenge to paint the vase so tiny this time.

Because of the colors used in the background this time I decided to use daisies and was able to refer to my garden photos on the inspiration page of my scrapbook to help me get the various shapes right. I painted these with a size # 1 liner brush. By the time I added the paint to the centers of the flowers I had to use a toothpick!

I was very happy with the results. Imagine having a "real" painting tiny enough to pop in your pocket or purse. Perfect for people that are on the move a lot. Everyone needs art in their lives, no matter where or how they live. This just did my heart good and I think it will do the same for others as well.

I had done something similar to this with daisies 15 or 20 years ago. It's nice to know that I could have this one with me always, even if I end up in a nursing home.

Fresh Iris and Lilies

Fresh Flowers are such an amazing treat after such a long winter. We had a foot of snow just last week!

I began adding both the Iris and the lilies wherever I could fit them in on 3 different canvases.

Several times during the process I re-cut and rearranged them to get a bit of a better perspective on them.

Here's a detail of the first Iris I painted.

That inspired me to add a few Iris and lilies here as well.

Sunflower Video

Here's a short video that takes the sunflowers all of the way from my garden into photos, drawings, watercolors and acrylic paintings. I hope you'll enjoy seeing it and will leave comments or suggestions on what to do with it next.

I still plan to plant more this year and see what else I can do with them. There's always room for improvement or innovation and I'm looking forward to my next experience with them.

Flashback Floral

 Everyone that's seen pictures of this in progress hates it

 or makes faces when I talk about how excited I am about it.

It makes me laugh out loud, smile and sing. I have the feeling that I painted this on a bus once in the 60's. The music in my head amuses me, memories and the lack of them occupy my mind and the paint shoots out my fingers.

Painting Today

It's sunny and around 70 degrees so I'm planning to take that "dishes" painting out into the garden and begin painting some of the latest blooms and berries on it as china patterns.
I'll have a bit more coffee as I round up my supplies.
There's a lot of traffic this morning but I'll hardly notice it once I get started on the painting. That's one of the lovely things about doing the things you really love. Intensity, focus and passion can be a vacation of sorts from the rest of your day. If I'd ever chosen a career I think I'd have gone into art therapy because I know first hand how good it is for your heart, soul and spirit and I'd like to be able to share that with people.
Who knows, it wouldn't hurt to look into the training needed. I may get around to it yet...

The end of the Petunia Project

As you can see I've added a lot of detail since you saw this project yesterday and yes, I mailed this card to one of my sisters. I just love mail!!!

Here's the envelope. Wouldn't you like to see something like this at your mailbox? She's got the original but I'll be making a few products with the images in my  http://www.Zazzle.com/julia_art*  store so that you can enjoy them too.

The first finished Still Life in DECADES!!!

The last few days have been more or less a blur as I worked on this painting every day and night but it's exciting to combine objects and challenge myself to do a wider assortment of subjects. I'm not sure whether or not my style or technique are improving but I do know the effort has been good for me in many ways. The flowers are nearly gone now but I've sketched out 2 more paintings that I'd like to start. I may have to resort to photos but I'm hoping not. It's either that or working the backgrounds and waiting until next years garden. I'll let you know which way it goes.

I couldn't fit the whole painting into the scanner so I'll be shooting some photos of it tomorrow when the light is better.

Finders Keepers

With no budget for the garden this year I'm looking to the overgrown bits of the yard when I want to go plant shopping. It helps clean up the overgrown areas and provides an assortment of plants and flowers to fill the new borders. I've even "found" a few things wandering in the lawn planted by wind, water   and wildlife. Every year things get a bit better and I'm enjoying the changes both in the yard and in myself as I continue to work on it. I think it's what adds the extra dimension and passion to the drawings and paintings that I create from it. Don't you?

Inspiration, Process and Prosperity

I've been working on the house again and reading a book called "Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life. How to use Feng Shui..." and it turns out that The messiest corner in my kitchen is supposed to be my "prosperity" corner so in addition to cleaning it up, repainting and putting new shelf paper in the cabinet I decided to paint a little watercolor in "prosperity" colors to hang on the wall based roughly on a small photo I'd taken of flowers from my garden in a small vase that I shot last year. In the first picture you see me getting started on the painting, in the center I've thrown coarse salt into the wet paint to draw off some of the color and produce the textured look you see in the finished painting. (yes, most of the salt shakes or brushes off as soon as the paint is dry) it's a bit messy to work with but the results are interesting. I tried it in the background of a painting the other day and will post a picture of that one soon. Anyway, I'm thinking it works for me-we sold 3 DVD's today and are hoping to see more improvement in all of our efforts soon.

I'm working on 8 by 10 inch panels these days because they're cheapest and easiest to mail and it's quite a different experience from the things I used to do (some of them were several feet across) . The days go so quickly when I'm really "into" a painting and it was nice today that along with the sunshine out the window the birds are back. I'm starting to think about what sorts of things I'll paint when the summer weather allows me to work outdoors. I may actually go back to doing landscapes, haven't tried any of those in years...