Blue & New Hydrangeas

11"x14" Oil on Canvas

This was an effort to try and do a little better on Hydrangeas after attending Nancy Medina's workshop.  I feel like I am finally making a little progress with this method of oil painting.  I really like using transparent colors for the underpainting.  It seems to give the finished painting a glow, although it's not so visible in this photograph.  I plan to continue doing this type of oil painting along with palette knife paintings. 

I'm glad that football season is in full swing.  That will give the hubby, "Big Daddy," something to do while I'm putting miles and miles on the paintbrush or the knife.

Thank you for taking a look.

- Sarah

Summer Glory Hydrangeas

12"x12" Oil on Canvas Panel

This is the last painting I completed before attending the Nancy Medine workshop.  I hope I will be able to show you some progress in the weeks to come.  However, I do intend to get back to my palette knife painting soon.  It's great to have so many choices & so much to paint.  I'm really trying to narrow things down these days to palette knife painting & colorful flowers in oils.  I thought about setting a goal of doing one of each almost every day.  I'm just not sure how well that would work.  That might be too much on switching the old gears up there. 

Anyway, the last of the summer hydrangeas are now but a single vase of dried flowers sitting on my desk in the studio.  I just can't seem to let go of them even though they have lost almost all of their color.  So in memory of all their beautiful summer blooms I decided to paint them the way they were in all of their summer glory.

Enjoy, & thank you for taking a look at my art.

- Sarah

Bedtime Roses

12"x12" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

I painted this one as a practice piece before attending a Nancy Medina workshop.  Nancy is a wonderful artist and teacher as well as a great person.  I hope to make some improvements in my flower paintings after attending her workshops.

I'm calling this one "Bedtime Roses" because it reminds me of a print one might find on a flowery bedspread.  I like the background color but it's actually a poor choice since everything in the painting is too close to the same value.  Why do we knowingly make the wrong choices?  Ok, that's a loaded and deep question but one worth examining.

Sleep well.

- Sarah

Santa Fe Sunflowers

12"x12" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Seems like I've been on a sunflower kick lately.  Just had to do one more.  I didn't have any fresh filler flowers so I improvised by adding a bright, cheerful, red & orange flower that I had seen blooming while in Santa Fe this summer.

Yes, these sunflowers are a little loud, but cheerful & happy.  That's the way I like them.

Enjoy!

- Sarah

Sunny and Blue

12"X12" Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

This is another sunflower painting from the same set-up as one I post a few days ago.  When I end up buying sunflowers from the florist I try to paint several paintings from them.  All but one flower had started wilting so I had to also look at the photos I took.  The one remaining sunflower was still bright and sunny but blue.

Thanks for taking a look.

- Sarah

Bath Time

11"x14" Oil on Canvas
Palette Knife Painting

I snapped this photo a number of years ago while having lunch at an outdoor restaurant in rural Mexico.  It was entertaining to watch these young boys bathe their horse.  After all these years, I finally got around to painting from this photo with the palette knife.

Hope you enjoy.

- Sarah

Can't Wait Sunflowers

12"x12" Oil on Canvas Panel

This weekend I found a beautiful green glass vase at Goodwill.  In the past I've seen dozens of the common dark green ones but never one like this; one that was not only larger than usual but also one that was a beautiful bluish green color.  I couldn't wait to get some sunflowers and paint from a live set-up.  For some reason, perhaps because of my limited palette, I couldn't quite capture the exact color of the vase.  After a couple of tries, I just pulled out one of my favorite colors, Old Holland Caribean Blue, added it directly on top of what I already had painted, blended it in, & called it finished.

Thank you for looking.

-Sarah