Actually, it's more like raindrops on weeds, or at best, raindrops on wildflowers. Somehow it doesn't have quite the same ring to it does it?
But the fact is that this flower/weed is actually one of my favorite things about the Centennial Trail.
Unlike some of the other plants I've painted, this one is harder to find. I've even found some of the other plants in my neighborhood once I had the eyes to see them. But this one...just on the trail and in only a couple of places. They also grow in an unusual way. There are tall stalks of beautiful yellow flowers with purple/pink buds and purple in some of the leaves. The really striking think though is somehow as a part of the plant, there is a stalk of what I call "chocolate pearls". I'm not quite sure what stage of the plant these are, but they always catch my attention. At the base of the chocolate pearl stalk are sword leaves that hug the stalk tightly.
These equally interesting parts of a tall plant made it difficult to photograph and presented challenges to paint if I wanted to include all of the components. I still haven't decided it I was as successful as I would have liked.
Unfortunately, that's usually the case with me.
I have another plant from the Centennial Trail series that I'm looking forward to painting. They are sweet white flowers, but what really strikes my fancy are the buds, which are still visible when the flower is in full bloom. The buds reminded me of a woman's piece of clothing from the early 1900's...maybe bloomers or something. They remind Norm of watermelons.
The weather has definitely turned here but, while I probably won't be running the trail as often I am committed to visiting different parts of the trail during the winter to add to my series. I'm also working on designing a new painting to go in my "Take Out" series.
The painting looks really good in my mind right now.
That's usually the case with me too.
Oh, I really love it - especially when I clicked on the painting to see it larger. I think it's gorgeous, and I love how the colors work together.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading (maybe it was in Art and Fear) that the truth is, all artists, no matter how talented or famous they are, are disappointed that their work doesn't measure up to how they saw it in their mind's eye. I think that's reassuring. It kind of reminds me of Platonic philosophy - the idea that there's a perfect table, or a perfect painting, or whatever, and everything we do is our imperfect attempt to replicate it.
I didn't know you could click to see it larger. I'm so glad because I thought that the picture was too small to see all of the color. I think I did read something like that also. I guess that the quest is what keeps us going. Thanks for the encouragement!
ReplyDeleteLovely, lovely, lovely, my friend.
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