Don’t Worry - Bee Happy!

 This is the title that came to me as I was finishing up a “one more time” painting adventure before we move to New Hampshire.  When a friend posted an invitation on Facebook to come pick sunflowers in her field, how could I resist?  So with my art buddy, Nancy, we drove out to the country and took photos and picked an armload of sunflowers. The bees were very busy pollinating and didn’t seem to mind us at all. We then spent two glorious afternoons under my pergola painting the golden blooms.  

Don’t Worry -Bee Happy

Nancy Hathaway’s Sunflowers

Dahlia Mania!

 In the process of moving from Indiana to New Hampshire, the last thing to be packed up is my studio. I couldn’t resist painting another big dahlia painting as I demonstrated for my classes. The blooms are irresistible to my heart and paintbrushes!

 

Plein Air Lily painting reworked

 Painting plein air has it joys and pitfalls.  There is the joy of being outside, surrounded by glorious natural beauty, letting the sun, wind and sounds soak into your soul.  I fell into one of the pitfalls painting the lilies of the field.  One of overpainting.  The sun dries the paint quickly. The colors seem to fade in the bright sun, even when I 'm standing in the shadows to paint the subject in the sun. The danger is to keep painting past the time when I should have put my brushes down, resulting in a dull image.  

When I looked at the painting back home, I ran hot water in the sink and soaked the painting, lifting layers of overpainting.  While it was still soaking wet, I added a few touches of color here and there for accent and called it done!

I will try again the next time I'm out!

A day with Day Lilies!

 This week Began a new painting adventure. Day Lilies! Steve planted 100 of them along with 100 hostas two years ago to create a border along our fence line.  So I painted a half sheet watercolor of his blooms, quite a variety.

Then yesterday I went with Nancy, my painting buddy, to a huge day lily farm to paint plein air. There are over 1300 varieties on acres of land - a bit of heaven.  It made me think of the masses of tulip fields we saw in the Netherlands in the 80’s. 

I painted in my travel journal and then a larger painting. It is a place we will go back to for painting inspiration.

Mexico Travel Journal Paintings

 We had a wonderful time with friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. 

Hawaii Travel Journal Paintings

 In a four months time we had the opportunity to travel to both to Hawaii and Mexico with friends.  With my travel journal in tow, it was delightful to capture some of the beauty.

Hawaii - it was the off season, rained a lot, but I was astounded by the luscious trees and landscapes.  I especially wanted to see the rainbow eucalyptus, and was not disappointed. The rain made their colors even more vibrant.

Postponed Postings!

 My goals for 2024 were to post weekly on this blog!  Here it is June and I just realized I hadn't posted in months.  I even found a post in the "draft" file from last fall!

I have been teaching and painting.  Classes at the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette and Westminster continue to be a joy for me to teach.  It keeps me ever learning myself. 

Abstracts

Irises from my garden

Textured Trees

Spring Trees

I was invited to paint at the Indianapolis Zoo again this year for their annual "Naturally Inspired" paint out fundraiser.  This year it was Macaws!  A very hard subject because the squawed and flitted all day!  This I finished in my studio.