"Blue Light"

 "Blue Light"

12 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

A new painting, large-scale for me. Painted from life, before the flowers got too wilty! Hint: always paint the flowers first.

Also, when you're painting anything painted on anything else - the design on this vase, the lettering on this bowl, and yes, even tattoos on human skin - paint the form first. Below, you can see I painted the vase, rounded in space (minus the highlights from the spotlight), before adding the blue design. I didn't wait for the paint to dry before adding the blue, though that's sometimes helpful.

You can see a 30 second time-lapse video of the underpainting for this piece on Facebook.

Sketchy, yet satisfied.

 "Lilies and Tulips (sketch)"

12 x 9 inches, oil on canvas

$150

Available here

I brought the lovely Easter lily home, and paired it with a Kaffir lily that hangs around my studio, blooming every few years, but mostly just filtering my air and looking green and pretty. 

 I thought I'd work out my thoughts about a larger composition, and start with a sketch - and I loved the way this turned out. I've tweaked the still life ( the tulips died), and am already working on the expanded version.

 

Easter Doings

 "Easter Lily"

14 x 11 inches, oil on canvas

click to buy

I had a lovely Sunday! Through a liaison with my local gallery, I was invited to paint during an opulent Easter brunch at the Eugene Hilton hotel. Of course, I chose an Easter lily as my subject. 

Below you can see my value sketch, done with two grays and a black Copic marker. I tried to stick to that value structure as I moved into the painting, but I think I ended up too dark on the ground plane.

I always benefit from preliminary studies - and opulent brunches. Shrimp, salmon, and crab at 11 am? Yes, please!

Good News Comes Early

 "Calla Lilies on Black"

8 x 6 inches, oil on canvas
Sold

I was lying in bed this morning - before 7 am - just texting with my Gallerist (because that's totally normal), when she dropped the extremely excellent bomb that my scheduled show-slot this year had just become a SOLO show.

This news is especially excellent because the opening is December 13th. 

But just because I have six months to prepare doesn't mean the work doesn't begin today. And it also means that you all need to be opening Orbitz in a new tab and seeing about getting some plane tickets! Oregon in December. Pack your raincoats.

The Old In and Out

 "Calla Lilies by the Open Door"

8 x 6 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

 OMG, I couldn't resist. This is exactly what goes through my mind every time I paint a scene that includes both indoor and outdoor elements. No one should ever watch movies, ever, really, right? My apologies aside, what's a blog for if not to expose your mental issues thought process?

Here's my work-in-progress, anyway:

 It's a huge challenge, capturing any subject backlit by a window. The trick is to keep the outside SO much brighter than the inside, but also very neutralized, or dull, colorwise, since it is seen through glass. I almost got there in this painting - I had trouble darkening the gorgeous whites of the lilies sufficiently to really sillouhette them. Can you blame me? I'm still charmed by my results. Charmed, I'm sure.

"White Lilies on Purple" floral flower wine painting easter lily art original oil

 

11 x 14"

oil on canvas

$200

purchase

I spent some time with this white lily last week. Then I threw it in the garbage with a vengeful sigh of relief. Before it was even wilted! In my defense, the thing did smear me with pollen several times and make my studio smell like a funeral. It also gave me some painting-related trouble. It deserved to die.

"White Lilies and Wine" floral flower painting still life wine fruit lemons art daily painting

 

8 x 8"

oil on canvas

Sold

I'm happy with the looseness in this painting, though I don't feel I can take all the credit - my brushes are getting worn out, and until I get down to the art store and replace them (which I do about once every month or two), my paintings may be a bit fuzzy! I'm noticing a pattern here - I posted a WIP of this piece on Facebook, and in the comments, I admitted that the reason I didn't paint the entire lily stalk was that I didn't have any small, rectangular format canvases left. Note to self: I control the materials, they don't control me... Right?

"Stargazer Lily and Green Plums" daily painting fruit and flowers still life floral

 

8 x 8"

oil on canvas

Sold

If you'd like a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to my Etsy shop, check out this blog post! There are a bunch of different ways to enter, including subscribing to my email updates, and liking my Facebook page. The winner will be chosen on Friday.

Daily Painting time machine, flashback edition

I'm happily plugging away at a new commission right now, but I thought it would be interesting to check out some of my paintings from this week in history: I believe the sunflower piece was actually painted two years ago to this day! When I look at it now, the intervening time just slips away - it takes me back to that moment so fully, it's like having total recall!

"Peach and Pink Lily on the Windowsill"

July 2011

8 x 8"

oil on canvas

$100 

 

"Sunflowers with Green Paper"

July 2010

 8 x 10"

oil on canvas

$100 

"Tea and Pink Lilies" still life blueberries teapot flowers original art oil painting

 

8 x 8"

oil on canvas

$150

purchase

This painting flowed out of me pretty smoothly. That's a good feeling. Well, the lilies gave me hell, but they always do. The thing about this pink lily is that it's the only one, out of at least half a dozen lilies in my yard that the deer don't eat, year after year. So I kind of feel obligated to paint it!

"Midsummer Bouquet" flower vase lily sunflower still life daily painting original

 

8 x 10"

oil on canvas

click to bid  

A new-to-me vase, proving once again that when I need inspiration, I should always head to the thrift store. Click here for a closer look at the portrait in the background.

My latest $1 auction ends tonight - a chance to pick up a Sedwick original for pennies!

"Shades of Red" floral flower still life original oil painting daily painting

 

6 x 8"

oil on canvas

$100

click to buy

When I first painted this one, I thought it was a wiper. Then I kept tweaking it, and now I like it! Good story, I know. I think I've got a little bit of blogger-block today!

"A Profusion of Lilies" floral flower bouquet oil painting one dollar auction

 

5 x 7"

oil on canvas

Sold 

So, it turns out my illness from last week was Pneumonia! Argh. I am getting back to normal life after almost two weeks of no painting, no running, and lots of coughing. As you can see, I gave myself some challenging subject matter for my first paintings. The studio is FULL of flowers. It's just that time of year. It's cherry season, too - I guess I could have started there, but no, I ate them all.