GoVenture

An interesting challenge is going on between 2 different artists/bloggers (Kal & Elise) this week where they both create something new each day depending on a theme or word/s they have chosen. Other people have been invited to join along, so with yesterday's theme being Green + Dizzy, I submitted a photograph on Flickr I played around with a little in photoshop, bumping up the greens.

Today's theme is Not My Type, which made me think of this painting I did a couple of years ago:



Though they share similar coloring, I believe they both agree they're not each other's type...

Tomorrow? The word is Pocket---the wheels are turning already...

Happy Father's Day!!

Strawberries!

Mmm, there is nothing better than a fresh picked Oregon strawberry! We have a nice little patch of strawberries growing out in our garden that are really producing a lot this year---we feel so fortunate to be able to go out and just pick some of our own strawberry bounty! It's a terribly short season, and often we completely miss out from being too busy to get to a u-pick garden. I highly recommend growing your own if your climate allows it---truly one of the most terrific taste sensations!

The first picking, a couple of weeks ago:





I think I see another red painting series coming out of this...

Illustration Friday - Unfolding + Poppy # 2

This week's Illustration Friday theme is Unfolding, and happily, it fits the poppy obsession I've had lately. Here's the 2nd one, painted in pastel, on canvas. To see the first one, check out my previous post.

Poppy #1

May 20th the local plein air group headed to Shreiner's Iris Gardens for a morning of painting. They have an outstanding display of flowers---Iris of course, but many, many others too! Lupines, peonies, & my personal favorites: dinner plate sized poppies! After scouting out the best poppies I settled in to paint one in particular. I have my own poppy plant I purchased from Shreiner's several years ago and it was blooming gloriously in our backyard these past 2 weeks also. Since I had so much fun painting their poppy I decided while ours was blooming I'd try to capture some more, resulting in 3 more 12x12" almost finished poppies! I knew I had to work quick since the bloom time was short, and sure enough once the temps rose into the 80's they immediately began to show signs of wear & tear. Photographs just don't do justice to the amazing reds of these particular poppies---they're always a bit too pink & not as rich as the poppies are in real life. Even major photoshopping can't capture the intense color! That was my painting goal---to put that red on canvas. It was really a fun challenge! Here's the first one I painted from Shreiner's poppy: I'll post the other 3 in the next few days.

This was my quick sketch on site at Shreiner's - to see any image closer you can right click & open in another window or tab.


Here's the first layer of pastel:


And the final painting: