Starry Night Daylilies
Starry Night Daylilies 19 1/2 x 23 1/2 Acrylic 2021
I painted my first flower when I was in college. I often thought it was out of my admiration for the work of Georgia O’keeffe. Her work was like no other I’d seen. Her large, colorful, exotic flowers were unique and illustrated her mastery of oil paint. I studied her work and attempted to do my own. As I’ve matured, I realize that some of my admiration of her work comes out of my love for plants. I’ve gardened most of my life so it is natural for me to paint flowers. Paint what you know. Although most of my work is figurative. I have great pleasure in trying to capture the beauty of other natural creations. I try to create beauty in my garden but also on canvas. I hope you enjoy my occasional floral paintings. I also do these in between painting more serious subjects. They allow me to practice my craft while not getting bogged down in the heavy content or mental states that one of my figurative paintings might generate during the painting process.
Daylilies are one of my favorite flowers as they are one of the earliest signs of spring in the south. I originally planned to gold leaf the background to go with a frame I’d purchased for it. You see I sometimes purchase custom frames when I luck up on a bargain. I look for unique frames that people order and don’t pick up. I then cut particle board to the custom size of the frame to paint on. Although, I still think gold leafing would have looked good with the frame, I am happy with the look of the lilies with what could be a night sky as background. A better or more appropriate frame can always be purchased.
Here’s another floral I painted recently:
Calla Lilies 24 x 30 Acrylic 2021
This is one of my favorites perhaps because of its simplicity. I didn’t play around much with the negative space in either of these painting but I have in the past. One of the things I love about O’Keeffe’s work is how she incorporates the space around her flowers. Check out some of her paintings and let me know what you think.
