Gerbera

Gerbera   oil/canvas   14 x 11 x .5

 Painting flowers is not for sissies!  So much information...so much detail...and so many relationships!  Painting them leads down the path of itty-bittiness that is not in my nature.  Although they are definitely not my favorite subject, I do paint them from time to time in order to stretch my brushwork as well as my mind.  My goal of simplification of shapes and of brushwork is put to the test.  

This is my latest effort...a single large bloom, single stalk, single leaf, and single pot is all I could muster.  

There be it...until next time.  

The King Midas Touch...

Gerbera   watercolor/mixed on paper   9.5 x 12.5

Gold has a history of desirability, representing wealth and status.  As we define ourselves as artists, we gradually sort through what is us and what is not.  For the most part, I have rejected this notion of gold-status.  I do not like gold jewelry....or gold frames.  I much prefer the weathered look of worn materials of an everyday nature...flaking paint, rusted iron and speckled stained materials.  Me.  Years ago, however, when studying calligraphy, I often admired the gold leafing on ages-old manuscripts and holy books.  The reflective quality was beyond compare, even after hundreds of years.  In my art cabinet is a kit containing all the things needed in order to gold leaf.  It sat unused for so many years....simply because I did not want to read the lengthy instruction manual.  I am a doer...not a reader.  A few weeks ago a painting of a gerbera daisy just seemed lackluster, for want of a better word.  I pulled out the kit and read the instructions.  Yes, read.  It really wasn't so difficult.  I loved the addition of this material onto the painting.

Never say never.