Poppies

Painting poppies makes me very happy! Two years ago I painted poppies from the garden I grew in Austin in 20015. This was from a photo. This is "Julene's Garden" which won a prize that year at the Inspire Gala in the Amateur category. Last year, I was staying at the home of my friends Shari Wynne and Rick Ressler and was out walking and ran into a garden in an unoccupied house in Barton Hills in Austin. There were poppies. This is included in my collection on my Fine Art America site, which hosts this blog. I am painting flowers at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens this spring. This was the first one I did, a small 12 x 15. I really like it it. The main poppy worked out well and I got a lot of good detail in the leaves. I don't think the leaves are exactly the right color, but they are close. The two large paintings of poppies ( 24 x 48) and irises ( 30 x 40) don't have the level of detail I was able to put into the smaller painting. The goal of getting a completed painting on one day is difficult to begin with. Flowers change so quickly! The irises I painted on Thursday had changed by Saturday! The garden had cut about five stems and placed them in front of the restaurant the Carriage House. It is a challenge. But, I love it.