Spring Mix

I’d love to get some mastery over this new I pad of mine, but I’m impatient and want instant success. I need to remind myself that in all things there is a learning curve and I just need to relax and not be so hard on myself.
All the artists I know are self critical and I want to look at the positive aspect of that. Without striving to be better, to want the next level of understanding color, or even to see on a deeper level- without these things I am satisfied with “good enough”.
It’s not the same as being a perfectionist, but it will surely lead to artistic growth if I push myself out of my comfort zone.

5x7 on panel

My inspiration

Painted while gallery sitting at Spring Bull Gallery

Rosemary's Iris

Plein air painting has many challenges- wind, bugs, sun on the support, to name a few. When the sun hits the surface you're working on, it becomes quite a challenge to judge the value of a color. It works best for me to have my panel or canvas in the shade. But as we know, time stands still for no one, and that sun will move!

Yellow Iris

Another from the iris series, a favorite flower of mine. My grandmother had masses of them, appearing each spring after the daffodils. They told me summer was just around the corner.

Margaret's Iris

While they were still blooming, I painted a few iris in my neighbors garden. They welcomed me to sit and become totally absorbed in my work. The big challenge is to distinguish flower bloom from background, so I played around with finding the right value contrast between the edges of the flower and the background. 

Iris I

Went to the studio early Sunday morning, planning to work on the river walk painting. I quickly got distracted by a bunch of flowers and thought I would do a warm-up painting. Staying with bigger brushes as much as I could, finding the essentials that speak iris to me. Happy with the results.I love how unexpected things occur in the studio, for me who plans so much! Spontaneity spoken here.