"White Peony Glory" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 12") sold

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This painting was forced on me. I didn't want to paint it. I protested that it was impossible. But my client insisted that it should and could be done. So, willy nilly, I transformed a rectangular painting in watercolor into a square one in oil. I rather like the result. How about you?

"White Peony Rhapsody" (watercolor on paper; 7" x 10")

"White Peonies" (oil on stretched canvas; 9" x 12")

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Peonies are not blooming yet, but one can always get ready for their heady perfume by painting them!

"Peony, Nigella, and Foxglove" (watercolor on paper; 8" x 8")

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Pink peonies, nigella (love in a mist), and foxgloves--all from my cottage garden--make a lovely bouquet, don't you think?  Of course, these flowers are all gone; my garden looks dreadful these days, although a reblooming iris started blooming.  Apparently, it couldn't wait until the fall.  Neither can I!

These reblooming irises are more expressive than the regular ones, but you get to enjoy them twice a year!

"Bountiful Peony Bouquet" (watercolor and oil pastel on paper; 10.5" x 15.5")

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With this peony painting, I did something unusual and crazy.  After finishing the painting, I decided not to leave the background pure white.  I first tried several vertical stripes of dark colors, which made the background come forward.  Oops.  How about dark squiggly lines in oil pastel over those random stripes?  Then, I spritzed water where the flowers met the background to soften the edges.  It was a complete mess!  Finally, I strengthened the now fuzzy-looking bouquet with white gouache and dark paints.  I think the result looks rather dramatic and contemporary.  What do you think?

The Collage of My October 2015 Paintings

The collage of my October 2015 paintings

I was super productive last month until my accident!  Which painting is your favorite?  This month I will be probably busy with custom pet portraits for the holidays, but still intend to squeeze in a few watercolor florals.  Wish me luck!

"White Peony Rhapsody" (watercolor; 7" x 10")

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For the 26th painting of my autumn watercolor fest, I decided to challenge myself by painting multiple white peonies with little variations of values or hues in petals.  It took careful drawing, many a delicate glaze, and a Winsor & Newton paint called "rose dore" to arrive at "White Peony Rhapsody".  I am mighty proud of the result; it may be the best watercolor painting I have ever painted!

"Pink Peony Spring" (watercolor; 5" x 7") sold

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I was going through my 2013 spring photos.  Behold, I came across a picture that became transformed into "Pink Peony Spring".  Spring comes fast and furious.  When you don't have to capture them in paints, don't despair.  Just keep taking pictures.  Someday you will have all the time in the world and get to finally have fun!

"Bountiful Peonies" (watercolor; 8" x 6") sold

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Peonies are bountiful flowers. They are big; their perfumes are intoxicating; and so many buds on a stem that it is nearly impossible to prop them up to keep their pretty faces away from dirt!

The Collage of My September 2015 Paintings

The Collage of My September 2015 Paintings

Time to show off the collage of the previous month's paintings!  There you go.  Lots of watercolors!  Which painting is your favorite?  By the way, I am not yet done with the watercolor fest: more peonies, irises, and roses to explore!

"Peony Glory" (watercolor; 8" x 8") sold

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I said in an earlier post that I vary my approach to painting watercolors.  With "Peony Glory", I pretty much finished the flower and buds before moving onto the negative space.  There is no one perfect way of starting and finishing a painting.  "Be flexible and have fun" is my motto!

About half way through the painting.

"Peony Blush" (watercolor; 7" x 5") sold

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During the peony season, I go outside to check my peonies every morning: did any buds open today?  I fine one.  A pink peony bud opening shyly to the morning sun is a blushing beauty!

"Peony Brilliance" (watercolor; 8" x 6") sold

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Last year we planted a different variety of pink peonies from the one we had been enjoying in our garden.  You can imagine my joy when they started blooming.  For fun, I vary my approach to painting watercolors; this one was started loosely and I tried to maintain the spirit throughout the painting process.  How do you like the result?

A loose beginning!

The Collage of My August 2015 Paintings

The collage of my August 2015 Paintings

I guess I was in the mood for flowers last month.  Look at how many florals I painted in August!  Which painting is your favorite?

"Pink Peony and Love-in-a-Mist" (watercolor on paper; 9" x 6.5") sold

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I cut a pink peony and delicate love-in-a-mist from my garden and put them in a white porcelain with blue patterns for a fresh floral still life.  In case you haven't seen love-in-a-mist, I included a recent photo of my lovely garden. When blue, pink, white, and deep blue flowers fade, they become attractive seed pods, first green then dried, which last the whole season.

Love-in-a-mist is blooming!

Love-in-a-mists seed pods

"Peonies and Coreopsis" (watercolor on paper; 8" x 8")

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Pink peonies and yellow coreopsis from my garden make a gorgeous bouquet! Below are the step-by-step pictures of "Peonies and Coreopsis". Is this the way I paint watercolors?  Not always.  I vary my approach depending on the subject matter; I sometimes paint the background first.  I don't think one suit fits all.

I started laying down the first layer.

Developing more flowers.

The bouquet is almost finished.

At this point, I decided to add another layer of glaze to the background.

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

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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!

"Pink Peonies Bursting" (oil on linen; 14" x 11") sold

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All spring I wait for my pink peonies to bloom.  Actually, peonies don't bloom.  They burst!  It has been an unusually cool spring in the Mid-Atlantic region this year, so they just started blooming in my garden.  I took some pictures on Tuesday and proceeded to paint my darling peonies.  Unfortunately, the last two days were full of distractions and family duties to fulfill.  After many disruptions, I managed to finish "Pink Peonies Bursting."

Reference photo

I must say that I have never painted peonies like this.  The workshop with Gregory Packard is rubbing off on me!  The biggest compositional challenge was how to handle the table, which bisects the picture so rudely.  I rounded and lowered it.  Please tell me that I did the right thing!  I am going to paint a few more peony paintings because I just can't get enough of these flowers.

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

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"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!

"Peony Love" (watercolor on paper; 9" x 7")

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matted size: 14" x 11"

Can you tell that I love peonies?  The fabulous spiky leaves that complement my beloved flowers so well belong to the spiderwort.

By the way, the bluish tint of the white ground is caused by the blue of the sky!  The beautiful shadows should be more purplish, but people have gone mad while trying to Photoshop a picture perfectly.  I've learned to let it go.

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!

"Peony Season" (watercolor on paper; 6" x 6")

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matted size: 10" x 10"

Recently someone asked me why I don't promote my watercolor paintings.  She said: "They are gorgeous!"  Well, I suppose they are my little secrets.  A great thing about watercolor is that if you use the white of the paper effectively, the painting can really sing for you.  How do you like this little gem?