"Lavender Girl" (oil on stretched canvas; 10" x 8") sold

sold

A little girl in a white shift dress and hat is walking in the lavender field, with a straw basket in hand. The golden late afternoon rakes across the purple clouds of lavender. The online workshop I took with Dreama Perry last fall got me into lavender fields, so I have painted several paintings of the theme. As they get sold, I am posting my work. Negligent, am I not?

"Lavender Heaven" (mixed media on paper; 9" x 12") sold

sold

A girl in a white dress and hat is picking flowers in a field of purple, scented lavender clouds. It is a lavender heaven! The painting is of the mixed media of watercolor and lightfast Caran d'Ache Luminance colored pencils. It was difficult to achieve the spiky, yet soft texture of lavenders, so I used colored pencils for them.

"Lavender Harmony" (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

sold

On a hot summer day, stand in the middle of shimmering purple lavender fields. You will feel heady in a perfumed air.  Speaking of summer, the entire East Coast is experiencing an unseasonably warm weather--in the 60's and 70's.  With the mild temperature and humidity, it feels like Kauai!  A white Christmas is out of the question; there is instead a flash flood warning.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

"Provence Lavender Sunset" (oil on stretched canvas; 9" x 12") sold

sold

The sun sets on the lavender fields of Provence, France.  One can almost feel the warmth of the golden light and smell the intoxicating fragrance of lavender.  Bury me under the tree in the painting when I die, because this is my heaven! 

Before and After, Then and Now, or Never Say Never Again!

"Camellia Love" (oil, 8" x 10")
sold

As I said in the previous post, I was busy working on old paintings this month.  I am sharing a bunch here.  A couple of paintings became a lot worse after "improvements", so they ended up in a trash basket.  You cannot rise higher without taking risks and making sacrifices, right?

So, what do you think of my efforts?  Am I getting better?

"Ducks and Geese" (oil, 8" x 12")
sold

"Lavender Heaven" (oil, 11" x 14")
click here to buy

"Lincoln Memorial Reflections" (oil, 8" x 10")
sold

"Primrose Season" (oil, 10" x 10")
sold

"Rockefeller Center Spring" (oil, 10" x 8")
sold

"Sacred Ground, Chichester Cathedral" (oil, 8" x 10")
 click here to buy

"San Francisco's Painted Ladies" (oil, 11" x 14")
sold

"Strawberry Pickers" (oil, 16" x 20")

"Lavender Fields of Provence" (oil on stretched canvas; 20" x 16" x 3")

click here to buy

What a busy week it has been!  I was painting inside one day, and gardening outside on the following day.  On Friday, I painted in the morning, then gardened in the afternoon.  I was so exhausted that I slept like a log for 10 hours that night!

Here is the "masterpiece" of the week.  It is lavender fields of Provence in the summer afternoon.  The blinding light and heat, the ever-present sound of cicadas and, of course, the lavender-perfumed air.  Do you feel all that?

For fun, I painted "Provencal Afternoon" in 3 D.  What do I mean?  I continued the painting into the 3-inch wide edges so that the viewer can enjoy it from all directions.  You will feel as if you are standing right in front of the lavender fields in Provence!

"Provencal Afternoon" viewed from the left side

"Provencal Afternoon" viewed from the right side

"Lavender Fields on a Summer Afternoon" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold



"Lavender Fields on a Summer Afternoon" (after)
sold

 

"Lavender Fields on a Summer Afternoon" (before)

The scenery captured in "Lavender Fields on a Summer Afternoon"

"Fair Lavender Fields" (oil, 11" x 14"; after)

"Fair Lavender Fields" (before)

The scenery for "Fair Lavender Fields"

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may remember my experience during the lavender workshop with Bobbi Pratte in June.  Well, it's been a month and a half since the unforgettable workshop and I have completely recovered from painting six paintings in two days!  I felt up to revisiting these paintings to see what I could do to make them sing.

Although nothing beats the freshness of alla-prima paintings done on location, the truth is that they are not always the best work an artist is capable of.  There is so much pressure--heat, bugs, fatigue, limited time, etc.--that if you capture the essence of the scene, you should give yourself a pat on the shoulder and do a little victory dance. 

I uploaded the photos of the sceneries I captured in the paintings above to show you how I edited things while painting on site.  I didn't just slavishly copy what was in front of me, did I?  So much thinking goes on while painting that one feels exhausted just for the brain exercise!

Now, back in my air-conditioned studio, no longer sweating like a pig and about to pass out of heat exhaustion, and instead in full control of my faculties, I could clearly see what was working and what could be improved.  I didn't change much of the composition in either painting.  But colors are richer and there are lots and lots of texture!  Both paintings now sing LAVENDER, don't they?

By the way, painting lavender fields of Pennsylvania got me thinking.  Why not go to Provence and paint acres and acres of lavender fields?  Why not?  Or, as the French say, pourquoi pas?

"Lavender Heaven" (oil on linen; 11" x 14")

Painting No. 1: "Lavender Heaven"
click here to buy

I love lavender.  Its enchanting scent and lovely colors always make me happy.  My ideal vacation would be a couple of weeks in Provence, painting lavender fields.  Someday....  In the meanwhile, this past weekend I took a workshop with Bobbi Pratte in the lavender fields at Willow Pond Farm in Fairfield, PA.  "Wow!" sums up the experience: the weather was perfect; the views all around, enchanting; the gourmet lunch of all the dishes with lavender in them, heavenly; the camaraderie among the workshop attendants, excellent; Bobbi's instructions, superb.  I think I ran out of adjectives!

My enthusiasm for lavender motivated me to exceed my records as a fast painter.  I have painted up to three small paintings a day.  Guess how many paintings I created during the workshop.  On Saturday morning, I dispatched two paintings.  During a break after the lunch at the farm, I worked on another painting in the shade under a tree.  By the time, we regrouped for the late afternoon painting session, I was pooped out, but no matter.  I did the number four painting of the day!  I was dazed and exhausted; I slept like a log that night.

Painting No. 2: "Lavender Fields and Summer Meadow" (oil, 10" x 8")
sold

Painting No. 3: "Lavender Patch by the Barn" (oil, 9" x 12")
click here to buy

 

Painting No. 4: "Red Hot Poker Summer Garden" (oil, 8" x 10")
sold

On Sunday morning, after adding some finishing touches on a couple of paintings from the previous day, I "attacked" the lavender fields again, which led to Painting No. 5:

Painting No. 5: "Purple Heaven" (oil, 12" x 12")
sold

Eventually, alas, the lavender fatigue set in.  The last painting was more or less a rehashing of what I have done so far.  Nobody's perfect, you see.

Painting No. 6: "Lavender Fields on a Summer Afternoon" (oil, 8" x 10")
sold

Here are some pictures from the workshop I want to share:

Lavender cheese spread container

Lunch table; Bobbi is the lady in orange T and shirt, the second from the right

Lunch spread

Lavender blueberry cheesecake; I have the recipes for all the dishes!

Lavender tour; do you know that lavender and rosemary are close relatives?

Lavender pickers; another painting material after I recover from the lavender fatigue

Painting lavender fields; I just had to take a picture of my friends working so seriously!

LAVENDER FIELDS FOREVER!