August's flowers
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
over my antipathy to green. I know I've talked about
this before, but it applies tonight, because I had
white flowers in the house I thought, and a closer
look revealed that some of them are actually almost
completely...green. Not a flower colour I would
ever choose intentionally, but I admit they are very
pretty. (Edward, by the way, one day (out of the more
than 1,000 that he's produced a new painting), said
that he no longer had a favorite colour. He likes every
colour.) Then I realized I hadn't given green a fair
chance.
So...the flowers were harder for me to paint than if
they'd been just about any other colour. Still they
were lovely. So many small decisions make up a
painting. Abstract/realistic, thick paint/thin paint.
Where to go with this one? I wanted thick paint, a
loose style and a feeling of joy. I worked away.
An hour ago, I took it into the kitchen where I
usually photograph my work, and said to myself --
it's fine. That's good.
Friends invited us out for a delicious dinner tonight,
and that was great fun. I hope my little green
flowers, turned mostly yellow, with red friends giving them
a hand, make you feel as happy as I've been on this
day. My son's fiancée arrived home from her year teaching
in Korea yesterday, and I saw her for a brief visit this
morning. She looks great and she and Christopher have
so many stories to tell. I can't wait to hear more of them.
Have a loving-your-wonderful-friends-and-family day.
4 comments:
Wow...gorgeous Barbara! Congratulations on your adventures with Green. You were successful. This painting has such a happy feel and it just wouldn't be the same without our friend, Mr. Green. Love the way you anchored it with the bold red on the bottom and that splash of purple on the pitcher is exquisite.
Hi Gwen,
It started out as mostly white, and I was too tired two nights ago to sort out where to go with it. Patience it turns out is more than a virtue, it's a friend in painting. Glad you like it. No wait, that's not strong enough. Overjoyed.
xoxoxoxBarbara
I like all those perky little dots and dabs, coaxing those groovy colours to jive together so well. It's always a joy to look at your work.
Hi Sally,
Thanks so much. I learned that floaty thing from the wonderful Californian painter, Bob Burridge. His flower paintings are some of my favorites. I'd love to study with him some day. I pulled the red flowers from memory of an exotic purple flower in Nova Scotia that looked a bit like lilac only tiny and very dark purple. That painting sold the other day, but I remembered how I painted the flowers.
Take care,
Barbara
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