the Peony & the Rose

Here are two new paintings I've done this week. The process of painting both of these was humbling & rewarding.

• The Peony: The inspiration came in the form of junk mail. I got this little pamphlet in the mail from Martha Stewart Living. I loved the little peony on the bottom of the page & decided right then & there it'd make a fun painting. It did. Less than 24 hours after it was completed, we had a visitor come to the house. She commissioned me to paint her one, but in different colors. That was exciting for me.
  

• The Rose: After the peony painting got rave reviews, I decided to keep going. I went on a hunt for my next subject matter. A rose was very high on my list... I've painted thousands of roses, but none of this scale. I found a beautiful bouquet photographed in one of my Home Companion's. Painting this was definitly not as easy as I thought it was going to be. I was really quite shocked by that. It went through phases where I wanted to abort the mission and I actually had to "sleep on it" last night. I was having some troubles with some areas & wasn't happy with the background color. This is shade #3 of green! But this afternoon while my 3 kids napped and/or rested, me & the Air Conditioning Service Man worked in the basement. I finished my canvas & he repaired our A.C.

This is a hint at the direction I want to take cREaTe (mentioned in the previous post). I don't just paint to paint. I don't do it because I'm bored. And even though having some fun money to spend at Target is nice, I definitely do NOT do it for the money. I do it because I love the challenge. I am understanding that to create "works of art", sometimes it really has to be work. These two canvases were definitely proof of that for me. The canvases measure 18x24 & 16x20... and it's amazing to me how much time & thought went in to filling up that small of a space. Even if the end result isn't an award-winning piece, I am content with it. And knowing that I finally got to that place after hours contemplating to ditch it completely, is very rewarding.