“Spring Radiance” 36″ x 48″ oil and metal leaf on canvas – sold
Many years ago I had some advice from a wise artist that if I should “fall in love” with a portion of a painting that just didn’t work with the rest of the composition that I should paint it out and start another painting based on that portion. I believe that started my practice of creating series since I repeatedly thought of new ways to paint the same subject.
Sometimes, the series of an image was created because of someone asking if I ever thought of painting aspens, country gardens, cherry blossoms, Japanese maple trees, etc. and I found that once I started one of those paintings, my interest in the subject intensified and I just kept going.
Then, of course, my own attraction to ocean waves, rivers, forests and individual flowers created their own series and I would explore those subjects in acrylics, oils and watercolors. More recently, I have started to create those same images in my newer mixed media technique of oils and metal leaf, inspired by the Japanese Rimpa tradition of contrasting the subject with large areas of negative, shimmering space.
My newest series – pink dogwood trees – started with a commission to paint one. This led to an intensive research of the tree and many photographs. I first painted “April Blooming”, described in my last blog and then started two on the same subject on 36″ x 48″ canvases. As I progressed on both, I could see that one of them appeared to have the most successful specifications of the client and completed it for her. It is the painting displayed above.
I’m finishing the other pink dogwood painting this week and will “retire” the color pink for a few months until I create still another dogwood painting in the spring. Now, I’m switching to fall colors and paintings and trying to think of new ways to portray my favorite subjects.
