"Smithsonian Castle Magnolias" (oil on linen; 12" x 12")

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Near the Smithsonian Castle on The National Mall, the administrative headquarters of many national museums in Washington DC, there is a beautiful garden complex called Enid A. Haupt Garden. Visit it during the magnolia season.  As hundreds of mature magnolia trees become heavily loaded with big, pale pink, cup-shaped flowers, the garden is transformed into a fragrant pink heaven!

"Glorious Magnolia" (oil on canvas; 12" x 16") sold

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Reference photo

I didn't know I was such a lover of magnolia.  Having had so much fun painting "Magnolia Season," I decided to do another magnolia painting.  Can you guess when and where I took the above picture?  Yes, it was on the same day and at the same place as the picture for "Magnolia Season."  I walked around to get the best possible shot; it is indeed picture perfect.  Even the sky with streaks of clouds is fitting for a happy mood.  The new painting is more a landscape than a floral painting, taking in the surroundings in which a group of saucer and star magnolia trees are blooming.

While working on "Glorious Magnolia," I realized the reason for my newly-found enthusiasm for magnolia.  Painting magnolia from distance is not much different from painting another favorite flower of mine--cherry blossoms.  As I couldn't possibly paint gazillion cherry florets, I didn't even try to put in thousands of magnolia bud dots.  I also had to make sure that I painted in darks under the puffy clouds of pale pink flowers, suggesting magnolia branches in the shadow and a row of trees behind the stars of the painting.  A happy discovery and a handsome painting.  Life is good.

"Magnolia Season" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

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Reference photo

As I mentioned the other day, I went to see what's happening at Green Spring Gardens Park on Tuesday afternoon in Alexandria, VA.  It was beautiful, so I went back on Thursday morning.  As spring is unfolding in a fast forward mode this year, I am trying to keep up.  The picture above was taken during my second visit.  I was both excited and nervous at the prospect of painting saucer magnolias.

"Whiff of Spring" (watercolor, 20" x 14")
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Why nervous?  Because I haven't painted them before in oil, although, as you can see above, I have tackled these flowers in watercolor in the past.  "Whiff of Spring" is dear to me, not just because it had received an award in a show.  It is subtle, geometric, and reminds me of the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, who obsessively painted bottles all his life.  It was a class exercise with Deborah Ellis, who wanted her students to paint white paintings.

Having said all of that, I must also admit that "Whiff of Spring" has the pretentious, contrived look!  It is the kind of pompous paintings one may see in a museum.  (My apologies to dear Deborah, who is one of my favorite art teachers.)  These days, I would rather paint flowers in a garden, basking in the sun.  Honestly, which do you prefer, "Whiff of Spring" or "Magnolia Season"?