Marybeth Heikes

Paintings in Watercolor & Mixed Media

Posts Tagged “Garden”

Fuchsia Zinnias With Lime Background

Fuchsia Zinnias With Lime Background

February 27, 2017

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 »

Rooster Romp (Barnyard Dance)

Rooster Romp (Barnyard Dance)

November 3, 2016

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 »

Raspberry Cosmos on Blue Cloth

Raspberry Cosmos on Blue Cloth

October 25, 2016

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 »

Elegant Garden

Elegant Garden

September 13, 2016

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 »

Rainy Day Sunflowers

Rainy Day Sunflowers

January 5, 2016

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 »

Sunflower

Sunflower

July 28, 2015

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 »

Neon Geraniums

Neon Geraniums

July 22, 2014

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 »

Jonquils #3

Jonquils #3

April 9, 2010

These three paintings are of my newly bloomed daffodils, a symbol of spring. I worked from my photos of the flowers and my intention was to complete a small, floral study daily as my garden flowers bloom, and to offer an affordable price for an original artwork. more »

Dancing Daffodil

Dancing Daffodil

April 5, 2010

These three paintings are of my newly bloomed daffodils, a symbol of spring. I worked from my photos of the flowers and my intention was to complete a small, floral study daily as my garden flowers bloom and to offer an affordable price for an original artwork. Another challenge was using some unusual, smaller-sized cut […] more »