Monthly Archives: February 2011

Today I named Chris and Rita’s painting.  The name is “Wedding Day”.  The name has a lot of meaning in this particular painting.  The colors in their wedding are going to be red and purple.  The purples and reds in this painting are for their ”Wedding Day”.  The feeling I am trying to capture in their painting is one of happiness and joy.  They will be married in early spring when the flowers are just beginning to bloom.  Larkspur and poppies are spring flowers.  The bright and vivid colors in the flowers symbolize the intense feelings of love, and the deep blues and turquoises in the background are the colors of loyalty.

Today I painted the soft pink poppies and the hot pink poppies into the painting.  I am happy with the way the warm colors look against the deep blues and greens!  I wanted to keep the flower blossoms looking loose and free as they sway in the breezes.  I like the movement that is there now.  Tomorrow when they are dry I will splash some sunlight on the tips of their petals and begin adding their stems.  I am still contemplating on the positioning of the big red poppies.

I thought thought that it would be fun for Chris and Rita to be able to see the progress of the painting that I am doing for their wedding day.  Remember that todays preview is only the background of the painting.  What you are looking at is the laying in of the deep shadows and foliage that you see in a flower garden.

I am using very intense (bright) colors for this background. A lot of these colors have had very little added to the original hues. When I began the background I placed the deepest most intense colors in first. This starts the build up of the deep shadows you see in the tangled growth of a garden. As I became happy with the general feel and movement in the painting I began to lighten the colors to make the vegetation come forward. The feeling I was looking for in the flower garden was one of gentle movement and deep shadows.

Yesterday I worked on some bright yellows and yellow greens. These colors are beginning to come forward in the painting because they are the warm colors against the cool colors. In other words cool colors recede and warm colors advance. I used these warmer colors for some native grasses in the garden. We live on a gorgeous Hill Country property in Spicewood, Texas. This is also our gallery. I love the tall native grasses that surround our property. I included them in the painting so that Chris and Rita would be able to visualize our home gallery in the painting when they look at it.

Another technique that I have been using in the painting is one of preserving the layers of colors underneath before I paint in new colors.  This is a new techniques that is working extremely well.  After I paint the colors in that I want to keep just exactly as they are, I coat the entire painting with a thinned mixture of painting medium.  I thin it with a certain amount of water before I paint it over the colors.  This keeps keeps the colors like I want them to stay.  I have used this sealing technique about four times so far to achieve the deep layers that are in the painting.

Today I am going to begin placing some of the background poppies in the painting. The feeling I am am after in the painting is poppies in the sunlight. This is always a big challenge for me as far as placement goes. In order to achieve the spots of sunlight, the flowers must be in just the right areas, against just the right colors. The next blog about this painting will be when some of the poppies are in the painting.

Today I worked on my new painting. The painting is really beginning to take on a personality now. I thought that I would begin the red and pink poppies today, but I didn’t get to them. I became involved with the green buds that open into bright flowers. I like the way the buds look when they are poking their heads up out of the garden. I am facinated with the way that the buds are so huge on the fragile stems. Because the garden has so many deep purples and turquoises in it, I thought that the buds needed to be in the yellow green category. They are bright against the deeper colors and catch your eyes. They are the colors of a fresh lime. In fact the entire time I was working on them I kept thinking about limeade. Maybe its the spring like weather today after the icy artic blast we just got that is making me think about limeade, or maybe I would just like to have some limeade! I bet that you will also think about limeade when you look at the buds in the painting. Some of them have heavy heads that the stems are trying to straighten up, and some of them are lifting towards the sky, ready to open. They are woven among the tangled masses of stems and purple larkspur. Tomorrow maybe I will be ready for the poppies.

Ceramic Cross

This cross is made of clay and is hand built. It is textured with doilies pressed into the wet clay. Each cross is different and unique. The doilies came from my favorite grandmother’s house. The ones that were to tattered to save, I have used in the texturing of this cross. Some of the doilies were crocheted by my grandmother.

Because each cross is handbuilt, some of them can be used in different ways. If you purchase a cross that has a solid center holder, with not many cuts in the clay, it will hold water. You will be able to use the center for fresh flowers, holy water or a candle. If your cross has a lot of cuts in the clay, it will be better for a candle or dried flowers. When the candle is burning, your cross will cast beautiful shadows on the wall.

To clean wax from your cross, lay it in the sink such that hot water runs into the candle pocket. When the wax becomes hot enough, it will pop right out. I hope you enjoy using your cross. They are very nostalgic to me because of my grandmother. I called her “Nonnie” and I loved her a lot. How lucky children would be if they all had a grandmother like mine.

Brown Cross:

Pewter Cross:

Turquoise Cross:

Teal Cross: