The studio has been a busy place this summer as I have been working on a new collection of paintings along with commissioned works.
One particularly rewarding creative project I recently completed for a client remodeling her master bedroom presented the challenge of painting two decorative floral arrangements from my imagination without relying on an actual arrangement of flowers for reference.
The buyer, who is an avid collector of purple Depression glass, selected two favorite pedestal vases from her lovely collection for me to photograph, then I began sketching and designing a pair of painted floral arrangements that would fit the vases and complement the colors of her beautiful new bedroom!
Many of the flowers included in the paintings are varieties grown in our garden over the years except for the pink peonies which I was lucky enough to find at the market. Predominantly old fashioned flowers were selected to fuse with the antique style of the vases and the elegant, traditional bedroom decor.
Hydrangeas, roses and peonies arranged in a decorative design are painted in thin layers of acrylic paint to capture the dimensional quality of the flowers and the range of colors. It was especially fun to paint the petals of these blooms glazed by light.
It is always a joy to paint home grown flowers as it makes the rewards of working in the garden more permanent. Soon I will be planting a fall flower garden and as I plan the varieties of flowers, I'm always thinking of the future paintings they may become...
