Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Paulownia II

Paulownia II
8" x 10" Oil on board
Not for sale

Today is not the day to write about the fact that I'll never visit or paint the river again; that'll happen when the time is right - possibly when I post my final river painting. I was fortunate to spend several beautiful weekends at the river this summer and this was one such weekend in mid September.  I didn't quite capture the warmth of this scene as I had hoped, but I like the way it turned out.  I also learned through trying to remember the name of the tree on the left that the Japanese used to plant Paulownia trees when a baby girl was born. When the girl married, the tree was turned into a dresser and given to her as a wedding present. If I owned the river property and the Paulownia trees that line the road leading in to the house, I would certainly build Camlin, who first visited the river when she was two months old, a dresser.

Paulownia Tree

Paulownia Tree
5" x 7" oil on board
Sold

This is looking across the field from below one of the Paulownia trees that line the road leading to the river house. I had a bunch of paint left over after completing an 8" x 10" painting of the same scene, so I did a quick palette knife painting.  I was leaving the next morning and didn't want the paint to go to waste.  My camera oversaturated the colors, as usual.

Apples with Cerulean Cup

Apples with Cerulean Cup
5" x 7" oil on board


Like a lot of my recent paintings, I painted this one quickly while Camlin was taking nap; sort of like how I'm writing this blog post...I guess it's good practice to get your thoughts down quickly.  Or maybe it's a shame that we have to cram everything into its own little window, even creative opportunities.

Last Rose


Last Rose
5" x 7" oil on board
Sold

There was one sad little rose left on the bush in front of our house last week.  It was supposed to freeze that night, so I plucked it and put it in a jar in the kitchen window.  Then I had to paint it.  Since completing the painting, the rose opened up and became even more beautiful.  Sadly, I haven't had time to paint it again.  I'm happy with this one, though.