"Dahlia Love" (oil on linen; 8" x 8") sold

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Pink dahlias from my garden are exquisitely dreamy in soft light!

"Pink Japanese Anemone" (watercolor on paper; 6.5" x 4.5")

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Pink Japanese anemones, which just started blooming, are the joy and pride of my autumn garden!

"Spring Pansies" (oil on linen; 6" x 8")

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Sometimes it is not the subject itself, but the background that gives me trouble.  In "Spring Pansies", painting pansies was a pure joy.  As a matter of fact, it is the best pansy painting I have ever done.  The background in the original version below, however, bothered me.  It seemed too stark for such delicate flowers, so I modified it with lighter colors, softer brushstrokes, and my favorite dots.  What do you think?  Did I improve the painting?

The original version

"Purple Irises in the Sun" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

sold

I realized that all of my iris paintings were done in a portrait, i.e., vertical, format.  It is not surprising, as that is how irises grow--tall and majestic.  I decided to challenge myself to paint a horizontal iris painting.  The dark reds and greens in the background make this small painting pulsate with heat!

"Summer Roses" (oil on linen; 5" x 4") sold

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I h
ad trouble titling this small gem.  "Rosy Glow"?  "Rose Brilliant"?  "Rose Shadow Play"?  In the end, I settled with "Summer Roses" although I took the reference photo for the painting in early fall.  Do you know why?  The painting just feels hot!  The sun casts colorful shadows on the petals; the background is shrouded in cool darks, from which a few sunlit leaves emerge. How would you title the painting instead?

"Peonies in the Sun" (oil on linen, 8" x 10") sold

sold

I have an artist friend who is on an ongoing "peony quest".  In other words, she keeps painting peonies.  She has probably painted hundreds of peonies!  It is true that I am not as devoted to these fragrant, luscious spring flowers as she is.  Nevertheless, I feel unfulfilled if I don't create several peony paintings in a year.  How do you like my new painting?

"White Pansies in the Sun" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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I love pansies. They are one of the few hardy and dependable plants with a very long season. Their cheerful faces greet us during the entire duration of the cool season for months. In this small painting, a group of white pansies glow in the morning sun.

"Purple Beauties" (watercolor on Yupo; 10" x 8") sold

matted size: 14" x 11"
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I have painted these purple irises from my garden many times before--in watercolor on paper, in oil on linen, in different sizes, etc.--all of them sold, of course.  I just love them so much!  This time, it is watercolor on Yupo, because I wanted to see whether I would be able to paint such a complicated subject on Yupo.  In the process I made an important discovery.

After the flowers and spiky leaves were done, I sprayed the workable fixative on the painting.  This fixative protects the artwork, but allows the artist to continue to work on the support. Would the finicky Yupo take the spray too, as even a bit of grease from fingers makes it impossible to move paints around on the darned "paper"?  I experimented on a small unpainted piece of Yupo before this drastic action, but you never know.

To my relief, I was able to manipulate the background wash without worrying about "melting" the finished subject.  The dark dramatic background has the effect of making the backlit flowers pop out.  By chance, the top portion happened to dry a little lighter, mimicking the sunlight from the sky.  I am loving my Yupo explorations, pushing the boundaries, going where I have never gone before.  It's like "Star Trek"!

"Pink Peony Magic" (watercolor on Yupo; 8" x 10") sold

sold

Backlit pink peonies against a dark night sky.  Does it make sense?  Yes, because it's magic!  Of course, part of the magic is Yupo.  All the swirly stuff in the background was created by manipulating wet paints.  How?  I held the Yupo sheet gingerly by the edges and moved the paint puddles left and right, top to bottom as well.  Very messy and nerve-wrecking.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  This time it worked!

The painting was published on the Daily Paintworks site this morning.  Someone left this comment: "Such a lush, translucent watercolor.  Strong use of this medium."  Isn't that nice?

The winner of "Moonrise over the Sea" is Elizabeth Ferguson.  Congratulations!  She is a relatively new fan and one of the most enthusiastic Facebook fans of mine.  She leaves a wonderful, positive comment on many posts.  Thank you, Elizabeth.  Artists are like movie stars.  They want to be seen and loved!

Print Giveaway!

"Purple Glory" (watercolor, 20" x 14"; sold)
click here to buy a print for $25

It is the middle of the month, not my usual time for a print giveaway.  But I wanted to have some fun.  I've ordered a 16" x 11" print of "Purple Glory" from my imagekind.com print shop and am going to give it away this weekend.  If you want to win the print, you have to do three things: like my Facebook fan page, like the post that announces the print giveaway, and leave a comment.  I will announce the winner on Facebook on Monday morning.  Good luck!

"Purple Glory" (watercolor on paper; 20" x 14") sold

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This may be the best iris painting I have ever done.  It just glows!  It received the Best in Show award in the Potomac Valley Watercolorists' Green Spring Show in 2007.  It is no longer available, but you can still purchase a small print.

By the way, I started selling prints of some of my paintings.  Please click here if you want to check out my print shop.  Thanks!

"First Daffodils" (watercolor on paper; 6" x 8") sold

sold
matted size: 10" x 12"

March has such an unpredictable weather.  One day, it is a balmy day; people are out and about in T-shirts and shorts, basking in the sun.  The next day, it is breezy and chilly; it may snow too.  When I took the reference picture for the painting last week, my hands were freezing!

Daffodils uplifted the spirit of William Wordsworth two hundred years ago.  They will continue to work their magic until the end of the time.  I love daffodils.

"First Daffodils" is the 14th and the last of the "Spring Fever" paintings.  I could have done a few more, but I decided to stop before I start feeling burned out.  I may do another watercolor floral series later in the spring when I itch for watercolors again.  If you want to win a painting from my "Spring Fever" series at the end of the month, please sign in to follow my blog.  Thanks!

"Lenten Rose" (watercolor on paper; 6" x 8") sold

sold
matted size: 10" x 12"

Lenten Rose, or hellebore, is a tough plant whose foliage stays green all winter, then starts blooming in late winter.  From its delicate appearance, however, I bet you wouldn't know it!  This is the first time I have ever painted lenten roses.  I have a feeling that it won't be the last.

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

"Peonies in Morning Light" (watercolor on paper; 7" x 7") sold

sold

"Peonies in Morning Light" was painted a little differently from my other watercolor paintings in "Spring Fever" series.  It had to do with the delicate pink peonies bathed in morning light.  If I had left the ground pure white, they would not have sung; instead, the painting would have looked anemic.  I first applied several layers of gradated washes on the background until I felt right, then I painted the subject.  I love the result!

"Pig in the Garden" (watercolor on paper; 12" x 16") sold

sold

Speaking of azaleas, how about this painting of azaleas?  You don't want a pig in the garden, unless, of course, it is a cute statue like this.  There is a story behind the statue, which used to belong to the brother-in-law of my dear friend, Marilyn.  After he passed away, nobody in her family wanted the "ugly thing."  I wanted it.  I love pigs.  I was born in the year of the Pig too!

"Azalea Shadows" (acrylic on canvas; 20" x 16")

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What would happen if I apply the same approach that I have been using for my watercolor florals on a white ground to the medium of acrylic that dries fast like watercolor?  That's exactly what I did with "Azalea Shadows".  I didn't want the ground to be chalky white so, guess what, I went "wild" with pink!

I arranged the azaleas from my garden to cast beautiful blue shadows. Can you find a butterfly shape in the shadow?  If you are looking for a happy painting, this is it!

Edges are all crisp, as in my watercolors.  I used to think that paintings with all hard edges are no good.  That is one of the reasons that I had stopped painting in watercolors.  Now that I have evolved and matured more as an artist, I don't have such an attitude.  Beauty in art comes in all different edges!

By the way, I took a flower arrangement class for a year at college; flower arrangement is a big deal in Korea and Japan.  I am wondering if my "floral education" is finally paying off!

"Memories of Spring" (watercolor on paper; 17" x 8" each) sold

sold
matted size: 24 x 24"

When you love irises so much, you have to paint them big and in diptych!  These majestic purple irises sadly died out in my garden.  All I have are the memories.  So, in a way, the painting is the reminder of the ephemeral nature of life.  I am feeling philosophical.

"Pansy Posy" (watercolor on paper; 6" x 6") sold

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I knew that, after I drew in the pansies, vase, and shadows, I had a small, but fabulous, painting in the making.  Honestly, I didn't think much of it when I was taking pictures of the still life.  Yes, I work from photos for my watercolor florals.  It's better for my sanity that way!  And, as you may have noticed, most flowers that I have painted so far are not blooming yet.  Old pictures came to the rescue.  When you have a serious spring fever, you can't wait for the flowers, can you?

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

"Bleeding Heart in Green Vase" (watercolor on paper; 7" x 7")

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matted size: 12" x 12"

The bleeding heart is all curves: the heart-shaped flowers, the arched stem they dangle from, and the palmated leaves.  You can't see the coquettish green vase for this demure still life in its entirety, but I assure you that it is also all curves!

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

"First Snowdrops" (oil on linen; 7" x 7") sold

sold

I first blocked in the mulched ground and flowers.

The delicate flowers are now fully developed.

Snowdrops are one of the first flowers to bloom in early spring. I took the reference photo for the painting on February 12, and that was a few days after I spotted them in my garden.  That's pretty early!  I painted the snowdrops in oil, because I thought they wouldn't show at all against the white of the watercolor paper.

As you can see, I posted two step-by-step pictures.  After the second stage, the rest--the spiky leaves and a suggestion of the mulch--went pretty fast.  Very relaxing after working for a few days in watercolors, which require a methodical, time-consuming approach!

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