It is July, my garden is a riot of color with roses, lilies and hydrangeas, all of my trees are beautifully green and I’m in my studio painting autumn landscapes. I always seem to be painting scenes from the opposite seasons.
I really love painting autumn scenes and I have been doing so for years. There is something about the leaves changing colors so dramatically and giving the world a spectacular show before winter sets in that I find magical. I’m continually looking for new ways to create colorful foliage and keep my images fresh.
SEPTEMBER SHOW
I will have an opportunity to exhibit my new oil paintings, as well as acrylics and watercolors in my “Autumn Scene” show of landscapes at the Sheridan Lawrence Gallery in September. It has been a long time since one of my shows has actually occurred in the same season as the images.
I’m thoroughly enjoying getting back to oils and experimenting with new color combinations. I’m also working on some diptychs, with their special challenges. The aspen tree trunk that I bought last month to stand under my studio skylight was so successful in providing inspiration that I bought a second one to stand next to it. The colors on the bark of this one are darker golds and apricots and I’m already planning a new composition for it.
WINTER PROJECTS
After my show is finished, I’ll be starting to paint spring gardens to get ready for the annual spring show at the Portland Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery. By then, my flowers will be gone and my vine maple trees bare, but I have many reference slides and wonderful memories of sunny days in the garden to inspire me.
Below is “Mattie’s Parrot Tulips”, which appears in the Xanadu Gallery’s ad in the July issue of American Art Collector magazine. It was painted in winter – naturally!
