Transform

All summer long I stared at a giant, blank 30x40” canvas propped up at the back of my studio. I had the urge to paint big, I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to paint on it yet. At first I thought it was going to be a lake landscape, but I couldn’t get a vision for it in my head.

And then in Sept. I pulled out my home decor to spruce up our home for fall. One of my favorite ways to decorate (obviously) is with flowers. I keep a crate of stems in storage and mix up new arrangements with the seasons. After putting together a fall bouquet I stood back to evaluate (ok admire), and just like that I knew what was in store for that 30x40 canvas still waiting patiently in the studio.

This first stage is where a lot of artists block in shapes starting with dark values. I like to use it as a time to loosen up and just throw color on the canvas. I knew the sunflowers were going to be the star of the bouquet, so those got sketched in with color before laying a foundation of abstract color. I like when unexpected color pops through, sometimes I am pleasantly surprised at how the layers of color react with each other. I like to be a bit more free and intuitive with it, especially in the beginning. Otherwise I overthink it and my painting gets too tight and I lose the impressionistic style I’m going for.

I have to be honest, this ended up taking me almost 3 months to finish and the vision for it took a few turns along the way, I no longer remember what inspired me to add collage papers, or how I even managed to remember that I had papers in a drawer that would work perfect for this, but that’s all part of the intuitive process. The collage papers is one of my favorite elements of this painting. It adds a romantic, French countryside vibe.

If you’ve followed me on social for a while you know texture is important to me. :) I used a modeling paste to create the look of an artisan, pottery style vase to hold a lush, overflowing bouquet. The tabletop was created using palette knife for a bit more subtle texture and lots of layers of thick, heavy body acrylics to give those florals some gorgeous texture.

I love seeing process photos of how a painting comes together, so here’s a series of photos showing each phase. For about the first 3 photos I was confident and excited about the direction. But after stepping back it was clear something wasn’t quite right. Photo #6 in this series was done using Procreate on the ipad to see if adding another sunflower would do the trick, but ultimately decided that wasn’t what was missing. A little floral re-arranging, adding in drips and swipes of color, letting some of that old color that has helped shape these florals peek through while covering the areas that needed to be reborn.

Painting for me is all about trusting the process while working it out on canvas. I can be a bit of an over-thinker and over-analyze each move, it can be paralyzing. Yet if I plan each step and each color out beforehand, I get caught up in following a plan, ignoring what the painting is saying as I try to make it perfect. That loose and free feeling gets lost. Life is messy, full of chaotic color, drips and spills, bold layered texture and soft-spoken details in the background that quietly help shape who we are. We can make plans, but our paths frequently change and if we’re caught up in sticking to the plan we might miss some of the texture of life. Sometimes you just have to make a swipe of color.

This big statement piece has turned out to be one of my favorites and pictures really do not do her justice, but I’m going to try and show you some close-ups of those layered little pieces of life that come together to make a gorgeous bouquet.

“Transform” is newly listed on my website. You can view it here.