Marybeth Heikes

Paintings in Watercolor & Mixed Media

Posts Tagged “Garden”

Hollyhocks and Bluebirds

Hollyhocks and Bluebirds

March 6, 2018

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 »

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 »