"Summer Garden with Hydrangea" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 12") sold

sold

Before

Something about "Summer Garden with Hydrangea" bothered me.  It felt like a faded old picture.  I decided to rescue a painting nobody seemed to care for.  I punched up the darks, got rid of the dominant sap greens, and played up the violet-yellow green complementary color scheme.  My new summer garden painting looks kissed by the sun, don't you think?

"Hydrangea Garden" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

sold

"Hydrangea Garden" in the original state

Hydrangea and astilbe in a summer garden by a white picket fence.  Perfect! Unfortunately, my first try was so chalky that I almost scraped the painting off.  The chalkiness was caused by all the "grays" I used at the block-in stage.  That's the trouble with using too much white paint, because these muted, grayed colors are made with lots of white.

Do you remember my experience during Gregory Packard's workshop in May?  When one mixes primary, secondary and tertiary colors with white, colors become "duller," but also more nuanced.  I am still following his example, mixing big batches of "grays" before starting a painting, which I continue to use for the next painting or two.  As you can see in the above example, I have yet to master the fine line between "sophisticated" and "chalky".

I let "Hydrangea Garden" dry and went back with darks made without white paint.  I painted lighter leaves on top of the dark passage and punched out sun-lit petals and creamy astilbe.  Do you agree that I saved the painting from chalkiness?

"Summer Garden Harvest" (watercolor; 14" x 18") sold

sold

I have a small fruit garden that bears raspberries, blueberries, and sour cherries.  The raspberries posed for my still life one summer day, along with astilbe and tuberous begonia.  I donated the painting to the 2013 Patrons' Show at the Art League in Alexandria, VA, and it won an honorable mention!  Hooray!

If you want to win a painting from my Pastry Pleasure series at the end of the month, please sign in to follow my blog.  Thanks!

"Under a Willow Tree" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

"Under a Willow Tree"
sold

"Morning Garden" (oil, 8" x 10")

"Summer Garden" (the improved version; oil, 10" x 10")
sold

"Capitol Hill in Summertime" (oil, 15" x 8")
sold

"Capitol View from the US Botanic Garden" (oil, 15" x 8")

Paintings are like your children.  You nurture them; you pour your heart out; you even lose sleep over them.  Once you do all you can, you wish them well.  You want them to shine--get into juried shows, receive awards of excellence, and admired by the public.  Whether you keep them in your private collection or sell them to collectors, you want them to be loved.

Alas, paintings do not always turn out well.  Unlike children, however, there are things you can do to improve paintings.  After they sit around in my studio for a while, I seem to gain certain detachment.  I can see things that I didn't see before.  Composition can be tweaked; drawing can be corrected; values can be strengthened; colors can be made richer.  Or, they may be retired so that I can get on with my life. 

In this positive spirit, I am working on a series of old paintings to see if I can make them better. Why not?  After all, all paintings are just a playing ground to grow as an artist, aren't they?  Paints and canvas may be transformed into an exquisite work of beauty that transcends everyday experience.  If it doesn't, well, no harm was done.  Nobody died in the process.  Ha!

"Summer Garden" (oil on canvas; 10" x 10") sold



"Summer Garden"
sold

"Hydrangea Bed" (oil, 7" x 7")
sold

"Hydrangea Garden" (oil, 7" x 5")
sold

I had so much fun painting "Hydrangea and Picket Fence" the other day that I decided to do a series.  All four paintings were based on the photos I took at Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA last Monday.  Some days you are just darn lucky!  Do you see the white picket fence that surrounds the gazebo in my painting below, which I painted in April?  



"Green Spring Gazebo" (oil, 11" x 14")
sold

I have been impatiently waiting for the hydrangea season, because I know that they have hydrangeas planted all around the gazebo. For whatever reason, hydrangeas and a white picket fence are a match made in heaven. They just look perfect together.  They evoke a nostalgic, cottage-garden look that pulls our heart string.  You may not have a hydrangea bed in your garden; you may not even have any garden at all.  But don't you wish you have hydrangeas blooming by a white picket fence in a friendly neighborhood where neighbors look out for each other?