Must be Spring

 

Finish
Rescued Magnolias
Studio Set-up
underpainting
in process

The miserable winter of 2015 left trees and shrubs in shambles. Pulling broken magnolia branches out of a snow bank, I brought them home  to see if they would bloom. The flowering was only partially successful, but I was very smitten with the resulting painting and started to imagine a series in a larger format. The Thistles, painted summer 2015 and The Cherry Blossoms, just completed are both 30×30 – a huge amount of canvas real estate compared to my more typical canvases. Expect to see more of these.

Work in Progress: Cyclamen in Rose

cyclamen.wip ‪#‎flowerphotochallenge‬: day 5 of 7, a cyclamen work in progress. Oil paint on 8×8 canvas. This is more materials experimentation – no solvents. Here I’m using my traditional oil paints (Gamblin, Winsor Newton and Williamsburg) with a mix of linseed oil (for a bit more flow) and solvent-free daneridge cold wax (to cut the oil shine); I like the consistency although it will dry more slowly. And I missed Williamsburg Persian Rose while using the miscible paints. This is naturally lit  – so hopefully the sun will cooperate later in the week so that I can complete this.

Semi-daily sketch

IMG_4688

In honor of yesterday’s little 1 hour loop walk that turned into a 5 hour challenging hike and search – much thanks to the folks who got Phil back to the trailhead and yay for my sturdy boots – Eddy and I are in good shape today – Phil not so much.