This piece was inspired by some antique bottles my mother sent me. I love the shapes and colors of the bottles, but I did not use the original colors. I completed numerous drawings of the bottles first, then edited and designed the composition without adhering to the sketches. I allowed for changes while working on […] more »
This piece was done from my original sketchbook drawing. I worked from the actual flowers, paying close attention to the floral forms and stems. These flowers are a beautiful soft blue or periwinkle color. My design is a little abstract and I was nearing completion, I added a butterfly shape which is partially hidden. It was […] more »
I have always loved the Bird of Paradise flower and wanted to paint it for a long time. It is a bold, tropical blossom and I tried to capture the saturated warm colors of it. I worked from my vacation photograph and challenged myself to use a different format, the square. The background was not […] more »
Flowers are one of my favorite subjects. For this collage, I used one of my sketches done in 2005. I love the shapes of tulips and the curved leaf patterns. I did not have a background planned, but improvised one using paper scraps to keep it fresh and exciting. The tiny triangle pieces were nipped from […] more »
This is another in a series of the beautiful lotus plant. I usually work from my photo and do a preliminary sketch and simplify shapes. The leaf shapes were edited, as there were too many to add anything extra to the design. The main focus are the buds of these flowers. This collage is done on […] more »
This is a collage design of a lotus plant, from my photograph of the plant at Balboa Park. Pieces of rice paper were used to add depth and dimension with my usual acrylic papers. It was edited throughout the process, focusing on bold, simple shapes. I posted this previously as a “Daily Painting,” although it […] more »
Flowers have always inspired me, and this piece was special because I wanted to try this in collage instead of the traditional watercolor methods. I began with a loose contour drawing of this Christmas plant and experimented using colored pencils in my sketchbook with unusual colors. I decided to limit my palette and edited my contour […] more »
Here is another still life of my garden flowers, which are lush and prolific this year. These are mostly daisies, with a couple sunflowers tucked inside the vase for color. My objective was to paint them wet-in-wet, taking advantage of the watercolor properties of mingling pigmented colors on damp paper. The grays were mixed using […] more »
This collage was inspired by all the lovely zinnias in my garden and the fluttering butterflies this summer. Instead of the usual collage shapes glued onto watercolor paper, I used another Ampersand wood panel in a cradled 1 ½″ inch support. Another difference of this design is that it is square, not a size I […] more »
The inspiration for this painting are my garden sunflowers. This year they are mainly dark yellows and rust-mahogany varieties. I never get tired of painting sunflowers. I love the large seed pods and triangular, wispy leaves surrounding the heads. The sturdy stems and huge leaves are a big part of my design too. To me, sunflowers […] more »