House Blessing with Sunflowers

THIS PAINTING IS SOLD
This is the latest painting posted on my blog--see the  few other paintings below showing how I got to this point---.This may or may not be done---I have to live with it a while before i know. :-)   I plan to paint more sunflowers as I have several set-ups to pick from.
I am taking off work tomorrow and starting a new sunflower painting.This one shall be sunflowers in a glass vase---then i think I'm going to paint some small paintings with wild flowers,

On The Easel, Still

Worked on it this afternoon --it is getting close to being finished--i will probably work on it more tomorrow. I really enjoyed this painting ( I will prob hate it tomorrow.  I am not going to post it on fb till I am sure I am really and truly done.  I have another set-up of the joyful sunflowers that I took pictures of in a glass vase--if I decide this is done I may re photo (this shot is crooked, I know) to get a better shot. I think I have changed my mind of what i am calling this--I was going to call it House Blessing with Sunflowers--a friend at work (Scott) said i should call it KANSAS.  I like that--what do you think????

Still On The Easel.....

Here is my painting a little further along---i am trying to post as it goes --I plan to paint again today and will post after that session. Note: nothing done on the sunflower laying on the table or for that matter the table itself except for a little work on the wheat. Hope you can see the changes as the painting comes further along. (If you can't--i guess that is why I still have my day job! ) lol

On The Easel.....

• Well. here is the under painting--I want to work on it today but I feel not so very good--allergies I think---So feeling like this, I felt like i would go ahead & post, knowing when I feel better, I can go ahead & delete if I want--may be a little delirious --It has been so long since I have posted, I really don't remember exactly how I did it.  I have so much to do on this painting so realize it is going to go thru changes but the foundation is there-sigh!



Sunflower Diary

Well the sunflowers are coming along--I have given them a first coat and am starting to get more details in --I am debating posting them as I go....but --then again-......I have a lot more to do ...I did take a picture and showed it to a few people at work and got a good response.

I wrote this earlier and thought i discarded it but here it was so decided to add to this post.

The sunflower painting is coming along--I am kinda excited but also leery--It is to the point where I am ready to put the "icing" on it, the fun part, but the part  when it can turn to magic or..........be ruined-- there is always that chance we face. I tend to take it to far, then I take it back then a little more---STOP! I love painting. I hate painting! grrrr

 I am going to order a book Marci Oleszkiewicz recommends--its called Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils ( and Rewards) of art making. She says we all feel like this--somehow that is good --like an artist of her caliber can have the same feelings as me---yep I am going to get that book!

Anyway sunflowers are fun to paint--I like the bright glowing colors and how they are so joyful--well we will see how it all turns out. I'll keep you posted!

Beginnings....

I took off work Monday and shopped for Sunflowers!!!I found some beauties at the grocery store (that is where Nancy Medina finds them---thanks Nancy(Sunflower Queen) --I came home without stopping for the blue vase--I could not wait! Then I set up several possible paintings--i had sunflowers in a glass vase, I had sunflowers in a brass colored container--i had sunflowers laying, I had some in two vases----took scads of photos ---now I have to choose which one to paint from this weekend. I think it will be one in the brass thingy--it was a bucket like thing that they used to put ashes in from the fireplace---not sure but you cant see much of it. Wow sunflowers are BIG! Aren't they happy flowers? Even drooping, they are charming.--I was going to post my photos, but thought better---don't want anyone saying they like the photo better!!! I showed a co-worker my gaggle of photos and she said as she was half way thru them, Oh, you took these photos yourself?  I thought you found them on the Internet. I took that as a compliment ---Hey, you take them where you get em! lol

Painting In My Mind

I am dreaming of a painting with Sunflowers. It started when I went to an antique mall Saturday with my daughter Jaime and grandson Alec. I found a very pretty blue vase, I thought the imaginary sunflowers would look good in....I have a little wooden trunk that I could throw a cloth casually across with interesting folds....I think of a "House Blessing" that a student made for me years ago out of Kansas wheat that she picked herself (she said it was an old Indian tradition to make these and give to a friend and it was believed it would keep your house safe and blessed) that I still have hanging over my door.hmmmmmmm... now if the grocery store has Sunflowers, beautiful Sunflowers,  and the Antique Mall--would they still have that perfect blue vase? --or do I want to use a glass vase or jar--hmmmmm--or do I want a goldish, coppery or brass container? I am thinking a dark background behind the sunflowers--do i want the wheat house prayer blessing to be on the wall or laying on  the table. Or do I want the background to be a mid value with dark cast shadows??? hmmmm, its late &  I need to sleep on this............Let you know later if this is a dream or can I pull it off in the light of day? hmmmmmmmm

Diary of a Mad Painter (like "Diary of a Mad Housewife")

I paint only with oil paint- I paint from photos, I usually do my set-ups, then photograph them--I do this as I am slow painter and my flowers would wilt or my fruit would rot--I work full time so generally I paint on week-ends so photos work well. After I put in a wash,I get serious and paint everything the best I can,I think it looks good when I go to bed, then when I wake up the next day I usually hate it so I go over it again--always improving (I hope) but by unexplainable reasoning I can see it better so I know what to fix. This may go on for several painting sessions. That's when magic happens--it is sooo ugly, then all of a sudden it comes together! When I am finished, I never am--I always go back and enhance after it has set for a week or so. It seems like I have to live with it for a while to really see the thing. It's a struggle till it's over then it doesn't seem like a struggle. Painting is strange that way.