Monthly Archives: May 2012

May 28, 2012 · 5:05 PM

Bright

I’m going to southwestern Colorado again this year. If you’ve been following me for a while you know that last year my Colorado trip got totally under my skin and led to a whole series of flower and mountain paintings. Returning home after a week there was difficult — I so wanted to stay.

This year I’ll be spending a few days in Ouray on my own. While looking at possible art classes to attend while I’m there, I discovered this wonderful artist, who works in oils and encaustic (painting with hot wax). Meet the art of Dianna Fritzler.

Painting by Dianna Fritzler

Unfortunately she doesn’t have a class while I’m there, but I enjoyed viewing her website.

In my own art, I get caught up trying to get realistic, so seeing this pastoral scene rendered in cheerful brights feels so refreshing.

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May 23, 2012 · 10:56 PM

I Like This Art

I just discovered this intriguing blog: QuirkyArtist. She lives in Sydney and is doing a May project: EDiM….”Every Day in May.” She has a list of topics, one for each day, and participants are making one piece of art for each topic. Like my Fifty at Fifty series, it’s a good way to keep on task, making art whether you feel like it or not. Ultimately quite a satisfying experience. It’s already almost end of May; here’s hoping she does a EDiJ project.

This is one of her watercolors. Check out the blog to see the fun way she put this painting together.

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May 22, 2012 · 2:28 PM

Light Calibrachoa

Calibrachoa No. 2, watercolor, 6″x6″

I’m on a string of painting “failures,” AKA “learning experiences.” I started a large painting, 14″x18″ and felt I could not control it properly. As is common for me, I liked my drawing but ruined it with the paint.  I ended up soaking the whole sheet in water and playing with the softened image that remained. Still was not happy. Here is a 6″x6″ portion of the painting that I cut from the larger work; the part I found interesting.

This is a painting of the same flowers in “Loving Flowers.” The two paintings are so different that you wouldn’t know that they came from the same inspiration.

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May 13, 2012 · 2:03 AM

Orchid

“Orchid Leaves” watercolor 9×9″

Sometimes the leaves of a flowering plant are pretty, too. I liked the way these orchid leaves curved, and enjoyed painting a simple rendering.

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May 7, 2012 · 4:42 PM

Loving flowers

Calibrachoa, similar to a petunia but not exactly. Super brightly colored flowers that they say will bloom all summer long with no deadheading. I love painting flowers.

Calibrachoa 1, watercolor 8×10″

For this painting I made the drawing while looking at the actual plant. I added color later in the studio without referring back to the plant itself or a photo.  When I looked at the plant again I saw there was a lot more white than I recalled.

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