The inspiration for this painting is the flower: hollyhocks. I am quite fond of these old-fashioned flowers. I love the saucer shapes of the blossoms, the buds, leaves -- every details describes this wonderful flower! more »
This is my newest watercolor of a bouquet of our garden flowers. I never tire of this subject matter because the possibilities are endless, and the vivid colors inspire me to paint! more »
Drawing and painting my garden flowers has been a delight for me. Every year I add new plants to the old favorites. I draw from life in the garden and also cut bouquets to set up still lifes. more »
My inspiration for this painting is the vivid colors of my garden flowers. Every year I plant new ones to the perennial beds. Although I have seven separate beds of flowers, there never seems to be enough room for all my favorites. These particular flowers are a giant zinnia variety and they are great in […] more »
This rooster acrylic collage is one of the many I have done with an Iowa animal theme. I usually begin doing a loose contour drawing and do not concern myself with a perfect, detailed drawing of the subject matter. I want the linear design to be lyrical and expressive. The background element was unknown at […] more »
Still lifes are my favorite subject matter because the possibilities are endless. This is a bunch cosmos from this year’s garden. It takes me a while to decide what to include in the set-up, and I chose to paint them in a special vase with a favorite patterned fabric. I begin by drawing the design on watercolor […] more »
This was inspired by Annie’s chairs at the Artisan Gallery 218. In early spring I did numerous loose contour sketches of these antique chairs and they were the beginning of my collage design. The other elements evolved from my imagination: the sunny window, the magenta color I love, the zinnias and sunflowers from my garden. […] more »
My inspiration with sunflowers is limitless! I started a loose contour sketch using my photographs of our garden flowers, but the design changed from the initial idea. I cut and arrange the shapes and let it evolve on its own. I usually decide on a background hue first (here a limited palette of teal and reds) […] more »
This piece was inspired by our garden sunflowers. I worked in a smaller design format than usual because I have been doing the Daily Paintings that are usually done in smaller sizes. It is easier to complete a piece this size in one day, as opposed to the larger pieces that can take up to […] more »
The bold colors of these geraniums caught my eye. There are many different varieties of these garden plants, and I chose the neon variety. I found it difficult getting the exact color using my watercolor pigments — it is pinkish with a little orange and red in it. In direct sunlight the petals seem to […] more »