Pink Bee Balm, 2006, Oil on Panel, 16x20
About a month ago I was asked by the Anderson-Soule Gallery to participate in an upcoming event called Art and Bloom. The exhibit would include paintings with a flower theme and then several floral designers will come in, select a painting that inspires them and design a floral arrangement that will be displayed along with the piece for several days in the gallery. The gallery was requesting two paintings, fairly large in size.
Even though I was in the midst of preparing for the show in January, I said I would like to be included. I said yes for a couple of reasons. I thought this project sounded kind of interesting. I like to paint flowers and haven't done any for quite awhile. At least not any that haven't ended up in the sand down pile. And I have difficulty turning down a good show opportunity as I am definitely still working my way up the ladder. Turning down good offers does not seem to be a good way to do that.
Over the past year or so I have noticed that with all of the galleries I work with there is an ebb and flow. Sometimes there is a lot of activity - shows, sales, gallery events and then at other times things are pretty quiet. This has definitely been the case with Anderson-Soule. I began working with them in the spring of 2005 and nothing sold for months. I was pretty sure they would drop me. But then at the holidays, they sold all of my paintings that they had in their inventory. I gave them another batch and they have sold a few of those. Then they invited me to be in the White Mountains show, then the barn show and now this. All at the same time essentially. Coordinating this, along with the ebb and flow of the other galleries I work with has been a real balancing act this last year!
Anyway, the deadline for the flower paintings was tight - they needed jpegs by December 15th, and the paintings by January 2nd. Right away after I agreed to participate, I did the underpaintings. Then I had my little meltdown, then I worked on other paintings, then I kept looking at them and was worried about them turning out so I held off again. It had been a long time since I have done a good flower painting and I was apprehensive. But the deadline was approaching so finally last week I held my breath and jumped in. I am not sure what happened or how, but the first one (pictured above) just painted itself. One day of work and it was finished. I almost wept. The other one (pictured below) gave me more trouble. I had difficulty getting the right colors and so I wiped off a lot of paint. Doug gave me a few good suggestions and after a few more painting sessions, I was finally able to get it finished. It has a different feel than the first one (which I really like), but I am pretty happy with it as well.
Phew! Another one in the can.....
Heavy Hydrangeas, 2006, Oil on Panel, 18x24
8 comments:
Tracy - I really like the Pink Bee Balm!
Thanks Jim!
Positively swooning over Bee Balm!!
Wonderful colours Tracy. The pink flowers in the first painting are gorgeous! Do you spend a lot of time working out the colours before you start, or do you figure them out as you go along?
and I really like Heavy...how big is it ?
Thanks, Jan. I really think it's one of my favorites too and certainly the best flower image I've done in a long time.
Thanks, John. I try not to think about or plan the colors beforehand, as it usually gets me into trouble. Sometimes I have an idea of what one color may be like for a barn for example, but I try not to think past that. It's all done as I go for the most part.
Thanks Deb, it's actually "Heavy Hydrangeas". I see that I didn't leave enough space and the title got split up. Which wouldn't be a problem if Blogger's preview was accurate, but I digress. It's 18x24. Now that I think of it, these are also the largest sized flowers I have ever done. Maybe that helped me loosen up a bit when I did them.
Tracy- you sure work great under pressure. Both paintings a wonderful. I think you had more trouble with the hydrangeas because of the composition more than any thing else. No real focal point for your eye to rest. The color and tones are just fine. The Bee Balm is just fantastic.
Enjoy the holidays!
Thanks Peter. The years of art school and the pressure of those deadlines really helped me I think. Not saying I love the pressure, but it sure does help me in a lot of ways!
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