Instead of April

This painting was posted a short time ago on the blogg called April Bouquet..not quite finished. Here it is all done. I changed the rose bud blossoms to a soft green which is closer to the actual hue..this also breaks up all of the oranges that were in the previous image. I added a lone purple blossom on the left for the same reason and to give it balance compositionally.

I have three new paintings for the UMVA show which is coming up in less than a month..Now to choose frames that will tie them all together..an interesting process in itself.

The Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor has asked me to participate again in their annual fall auction called, "Save Me a Seat". Last year the beautiful bench my son and I collaberated on got the top price in the auction. This year the subject is tables...Time to start thinking about the theme for that...I really enjoy this kind of challenge....and deadlines are a good thing for artists...

April Bouquet

The weather and scenery haven't provided much in the way of inspiration lately. The landscape is gray and muddy, downright depressing if you ask me..so in lieu of that I decided to set up a colorful still life in my studio. A bouquet of yellow roses edged with red, together with pinkish purple chrysanthemums looked so lively and fresh..it was just the thing. The Chinese bowl lined with a lime green glaze adds an interesting jolt of color and the carved cat gives a little twist.

I prefer painting on hard panels as opposed to canvas and this is a 17 x 16 piece of prepared plywood. I covered it with Colourfix terra cotta primer too which adds so much depth and richness to the glazes. I'm still working with casein and acrylic..just love the earthy colors and wet, swishy medium..pastels will have to wait.

This isn't quite finished yet..but it's far enough along so that I can step back for a few days and get a fresh perspective on the final touches. I'll post this again when it's done.