"Pink Peony Bouquet" (oil; 10" x 10")

"Pink Peony Bouquet"

"First Peony" (oil, 10 x 10")

This spring has been such a strange one that many plants seem to be as confused as gardeners.  I have one precious peony plant, which had always given me an armful of fragrant pink flowers every spring.  Not this year.  An unseasonably warm early spring, followed by a cool mid-spring, must have wrought havoc to the poor thing.  What you see above is all the peonies I got!  It is now the hydrangea season in northern Virginia.  Hopefully, hydrangeas didn't get damaged by the funky weather.

HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!

"Summer Kitchen Still Life with Cantaloupe" (oil; 14" x 18")

Still Life Setup

Thursday, then, it must be time for the still life class with John Murray at the Art League School.  It is always nice to have a rhythm in one's life, and I look forward to John's class with eagerness.  The still life setup I was supposed to paint last night, however, didn't thrill me.  It featured a honey dew cut into two halves, apples, and misshapen apricots.  So I chose to move my easel to the second arrangement with a cantaloupe, egg, and gorgeous blue antique salt shaker.  Throw in a sage green table (with stains that can be painted out), white kitchen towel, and violet drapery--you have a winner.

I sang when I saw the blue salt shaker and painted it with just a few strokes.  All I did later was to add a couple of highlights.  Wow!  On the other hand, the skin of the cantaloupe gave me such trouble that I probably spent the half of the painting time on it.  Kevin Macpherson talks about "living colors" in the shadows in his books; my cantaloupe colors were definitely not that.  I scaped out and repainted them several times until they became "living colors." 

So, last night, I learned to paint a cantaloupe.  When John gave away the class the still life models, I picked a whole honey dew.  What a productive class!

"Mums, Carnations, and Peaches" (oil; 18" x 14")

"Mums, Carnations, and Peaches"

"Mums, Carnations, and Cherries" (oil, 14 x 11")

My still-life teacher, John Murray, likes to throw a curve once in a while by making us paint flowers.  I painted "Mums, Carnations, and Cherries" in the winter term; in the blog entry on the painting, you will read all about my consternation when I first saw the setup, after having become used to the simple arrangements of fruits and vegetables.  Well, that was then. 

When I saw him bringing in bunches of white mums and violet carnations last Thursday evening, I took it calmly, rather amused that he has chosen the same combination of flowers--mums and carnations.  He explained cryptically to the class that peonies at the florists were not yet open and that he hated sunflowers (he called them "ugly flowers"!).  From his remarks, I gathered that he must have looked for the flowers with large heads to make it easier for us to see form.  How kind of him!

As it turned out, the biggest challenge I had painting "Mums, Carnations, and Peaches" was not the flowers or vase, or drapes.  It was the peaches!  I have painted these delicious fruits once--"Silver Peach Bowl".  As you can see, there are no highlights on the peaches because of the soft, natural light.  Look at my new painting; there are again no bright highlights on them although they were being lit by the spotlights. 

"Silver Peach Bowl" (oil, 8 x 8")

I didn't realize that the lack of highlights had to do with the fuzz!  If the fruits had been nectarines with smooth, shiny skins, they would have sported highlights. You get it? The fuzz unique to the peaches make their colors look duller and bluish. I hesitated to add blue to the red/orange/yellow combinations in fear of turning them dirty.  John had to push me every time he came around to critique my work.  So, in this week's lesson, I learned how to paint peaches. 

"Bishop's Garden at National Cathedral" (oil; 12" x 16")

Reference photo

I love National Cathedral and Bishop's Garden in the cathedral ground in Washington, DC.  I would paint there more often if parking is more convenient.  So far, I ventured out twice and came home with two decent paintings, which I am showing below.

"Bishop's Garden" (oil, 8 x 10")

"National Cathedral" (oil, 16 x 12")

The reference photo for "Bishop's Garden at National Cathedral" was taken on a beautiful summer day last year when I painted "National Cathedral" on location.  This is a great view of both the Gothic-style cathedral and the stone gazebo.  The lawn is a popular spot for visitors to relax and picnic.  If you follow the path to the left of the gazebo, you will be greeted by the flowers in the sunken garden, which is captured in  "Bishop's Garden".

Because of the obvious drawing challenge involved in rendering the cathedral (drawing the gazebo is not that easy either, but in comparison, just a peanut!), I sat on the photo for a long time until yesterday.  I must say that I did a better job with the new painting than with "National Cathedral" in terms of drawing.  I am planning on going out there soon.  I can't wait!

"Old Church" (oil; 11" x 14")

Reference photo

I saw this doll house of a church on the main drag in Solomons Island in Maryland last spring during the workshop with Bobbi Pratte.  Solomons Island is a quiet waterfront fishing village located about an hour south of the Washington beltway.  In the afternoon on the second day of the workshop, I could have painted it en plein air.  Instead, I painted a Victorian house, which was as much a drawing challenge as the church would have been.  To make things worse, the sun kept coming in and out, constantly changing the shadow patterns.

"Victorian House" (oil, 11 x 14")

So it was infinitely easier to paint the church in my studio from the reference photo.  I don't know whether the old church is still in service, but it sure is charming, isn't it?

"Central Park Sunset" (oil; 14" x 11")

"Central Park Reflections" (oil, 12 x 9")

If you read my blog regularly, you may remember the above painting.  In the entry on "Central Park Reflections", I talked about how I changed the time of the day and mood from an overcast day to a mellow sunset.  Well, I thought I would give another shot at it in a slightly larger format.  It is still a sunset scene, but I used more paint and more saturated colors.  I love the new version! 

I have been re-reading my favorite art books and doing a lot of thinking lately.  I decided that I should use more paint, be braver, and paint with gusto.  I have come a long way from my watercolor days, in which I didn't show any brushstrokes.  My watercolor paintings were so still and meditative that I could fall asleep while looking at them.  Not that they were bad; they were beautiful and won many awards.  But most artists evolve; so have I.  Now I work in the tactile medium of oil, I should enjoy what the medium can do.  Right?

"Yellow Still Life" (oil; 14" x 18")

Still life setup

Last Thursday evening, my still-life teacher, John Murray, decided to make us do a one-color exercise, the color of choice being yellow.  Since it is one of my favorite colors, I was initially happy with the day's challenge.  Unfortunately, I soon felt my enthusiasm dissipate, as I couldn't figure out what colors were the shadow side of the yellow bucket (I loved it though!), lemons, golden delicious apple, or bananas.

If you can name a color, you can mix it.  If it simply looks like a dull, darker version of the color in the light, you are in trouble.  Oy!  John eventually came around to the rescue.  He helped me with the bucket, which was giving me the most trouble.  The class turned out to be an exercise in humility.  I was perhaps becoming too confident as I breezed through the two previous classes.  John's mantra is: "paint as if you have never painted before."  Yes, sir!  I will do that from now on.