"Big Sur Widflowers" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

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Some places are so beautiful that they beg to be painted over and over again.  Big Sur, California is one of those places.  I visited Big Sur just once several years ago, but am still haunted by the memory.

"Big Sur Moment" (oil, 11" x 14"; sold)

"Big Sur Blue" (oil, 5" x 4"; sold)

By the way, today is the first day of Leslie Saeta's September 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I will try to keep up with the challenge!

"Sunflowers on Hot Summer Day" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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No other flowers say "summer" as loudly as sunflowers.  In the depth of winter, or on a cool summer day like today, if I want to feel the hot summer sun in my heart, I just have to think of these big, bold, in-your-face, flowers.

By the way, I am back to painting oils.  You wouldn't believe how exciting it is to switch back and forth between mediums.  Watercolors do something oils cannot do; there are things one can do only with oils.  As I told a friend of mine, by renewing my watercolor ways, which were my first love, I doubled the fun!  I am sharing the collage of the paintings I created during my explorations on Yupo painting last month.  Enjoy!

Collage of my Yupo Paintings created in July 2013!

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

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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!

"Luscious Yellow Roses" (oil on linen; 7" x 7") sold

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I have painted these yellow roses before from a photo. Is that bad of me?  This time I tried to apply a year's worth of learning to the new painting.  The lighting was a cool, natural light.  So the highlights were painted cool; shadows, warm.  I also used more paints and colors.  Someday I will create a painting of roses so powerful that it will cause the viewer's heart to skip a beat.  In the meanwhile, this will do.

"Yellow and Peach Roses" (oil, 8" x 10")
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"Yellow Roses" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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Reference photo

I haven't been painting much lately, partly thanks to my daughter.  She just started high school, marches in the marching band, joined her school's golf team, etc.  I figured that this was the last chance to get involved in her school activities and decided to volunteer as much as I could, which is a good thing, but also time-consuming and tiring. 

Whenever I tried to paint, I found myself tightening up.  The summer-long project of working on old paintings, I fear, made me lazy.  Well, fixing an old painting is not as hard or nerve-wrecking as starting a painting from scratch, you see.  It's not as exciting either.  I kind of lost my mojo in the process.

I mean to rectify the situation, get back into my form, and start painting like a maniac again.  "Yellow Roses" is from a photo I took of my neighbor's roses last April.  I could have worked at it for two more hours to make it "perfect".  My goal was, however, to loosen up, to get excited about painting again. 

"Apple Tree Blooming" Revisited (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

After
sold

Before

"Yellow Tulip Planter" (after; oil, 12" x 9")
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Before

It's been several months since I painted "Apple Tree Blooming" and "Yellow Tulip Planter" last spring.  At that time, I thought they were pretty darn good.  Last week I looked at them; they didn't look that great anymore!  My critical attitude toward some of my old paintings, I hope, doesn't mean that I am turning into one of those sour, unhappy people who are never satisfied with their lives.  It's just that I am growing as an artist and can critique my own work impartially and constructively.

Anyhow I worked on both paintings to see what I can come up with, the second time around.  Can you see what I did?  For one thing, I got rid of the half of a tulip on the far left in "Yellow Tulip Planter."  I don't know what I was thinking back in April!  Many an artist has made the same mistake of painting everything in front of her, in this case, in the photo. 

Lately I started a new habit of bringing a work in progress to the bathroom to look at it in the mirror.  It really helps me to take an objective look at it and I discover lots of awkward things this way--a horizon that doesn't quite match up, a vase with a wrong ellipse, etc.  And that is how I realized that the flower had to go.

Over all, I think I strengthened the composition in both paintings.  In "Apple Tree Blooming," there is also a stronger sense of light bouncing around.  Don't the two spring flower paintings make you feel happy?

"Crocuses and Miniature Daffodils" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

Reference photo

Crocuses are one of the first flowers that bloom in a spring garden.  Their yellow, white, and purple flowers shout, "Wake up!  It's spring!"  In some years, these hardy babies will poke through a snow-covered ground.  Not this year, of course.  They naturalize nicely too, multiplying year after year.   Gardeners love them for one more reason.  Deer don't seem to care for them. 

Another spring bulb deer avoid to the gardeners' delight is the daffodil.  Miniature daffodils, my husband informs me, are the ancestors of modern, big, flashy daffodils.  As you can see in the above picture, they are about the same height as and perfect companions for crocuses.

One thing I have noticed lately while painting spring flowers is that flowers in a natural setting look, well, more natural than those in a still-life setup.  A good reason to get out there and dig.  It is hard to be inside painting when it is a glorious spring day outside.

"Yellow and Peach Roses" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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It amazes me to see what one can do with 80 square inches of linen.  Six roses!  Isn't the painting luscious, if I may say so?  I used to do lots of flower paintings in watercolor.  As I moved away from this not-so-forgiving medium, exploring more opaque medium of oil, I embraced landscape with enthusiasm.  I love to paint landscapes, especially en plein air, which I didn't really enjoy as a watercolorist.  But, you know, something strange has been happening lately.

I stopped teaching (history at a college, if you are not familiar with my story), and am now painting full time, everyday and happily, if you want to know.  My audience is eBay.  For three months I floundered, trying to figure out what attracts eBay fine art buyers.  Gradually I find myself reaching to my old bag of tricks, something I do well, or better than other subjects --flowers.  Why haven't I thought of that?  I inherited my love of flowers and gardening from my parents.  When I lived in a high-rise apartment, I used to have a patio filled with flowers in containers. 

It all goes back to the old adage in the art business.  Paint something you really love.  I am anxious to see how much "Yellow and Peach Roses" will go for on eBay.  Wish me luck!

"Sunny Sunflowers" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

Reference photo

There is something about the sunflower that make it irresistible.  It is possibly the most favored flower, after the rose, of course.  If I remember correctly, Vincent van Gogh's painting of sunflowers used to be the most expensive painting in the world until its record was broken.  As some of my readers may know, I regularly auction my artwork on eBay, and whenever I list a sunflower painting, there is a positive buzz from the first day!  Perhaps it's because I usually throw in a couple of bees, too (ha, ha).

"Sunflowers and Happy Bee" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

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Reference photo

On to way to Lancaster, PA to pick up our daughter at camp, my husband and I stopped by at the rest area in York.  Instead of going in to use the facilities, I dawdled, captivated by these sunflowers.  I was the only person taking pictures of these cheerful flowers; other people were obviously more sensible than I!  Sensible or not, I was as happy as the bee on the flower on the right.  Whenever I find the reference material for future painting projects, I feel like I hit the jackpot.  How small things in life please me!

On the technical note, compare the photo above with my painting.  The photo's colors are predominantly cool yellows and greens; my painting is dominated by warm yellows and violets.  I did that on purpose, pushing the yellows toward the sun and contrasting the yellows with the complementary violets so that the painting would pulsate.  Besides, I love using pure colors out of the tubes: cadmium lemon, yellow light, and yellow medium.  They are toxic--never to be touched or, god forbid, digested--but no other synthetic paints can replace them.  They simply glow.

"Yellow Calla Lilies" (oil on linen; 5" x 4")

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I had a bit of time on my hands before I had to pack up and go home near the end of a plein-air painting session.  So I sat down in front of yellow lilies at River Farm in Alexandria, VA.  This painting was the result.  Not too many hard edges and just a few suggestive strokes--not my usual modus operandi.  But I love it.