The Weekly Spectrum - The Passion Continues!

   Sometimes I feel we live in a world of hybrids - from automobiles to produce to plastics. Flowers are no exception and can produce some fairly stunning results. This week's blog focuses on the Lady Margaret passion flower. It's official classification is Passiflora 'Lady Margaret'. Apparently, deep blood red is a rare color among these types tropical vines which sport some of the most exotic flower architecture in the world. The Lady Margaret, is a hybrid between two South American species, the red Passiflora coccinea and the deciduous native of the American southeast, Passiflora incarnata.

   Confused yet? Join the club! Sometimes we can wrapped up in all the technical details and miss one important and simple factor that's right in front of us - it's a beautiful flower. One that begs to be painted. Using the mantra, keep it simple, I used basic colors for this work - primarily Alizeron Crimson and Phthalo Green mixed with a little bit of yellow. 

   Anyone who knows me, knows I love flowers. If anyone wants to know what to get me for Christmas this year - here you go! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink...

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Weekly Spectrum - Violet Passion Flower

   The inspiration for this painting came from a photograph in a magazine - while the representation was fantastic, almost no photo can do the beauty of this flower justice. These South American tropical flowers can be cultivated and thrive as patio plants. They grow on vines and will grow intertwined in pots. As long as they are in a brightly lit sun-drenched area, have decent soil, and plenty of water, they've been known to have zero problems indoors during winter months in the snow belt. In fact, with light fertilization, the Passion Flower has been known to provide vigorous growth.

   Sometimes I'm amazed at how resilient flowers and plants can be. When given the proper environment, nourishment, patience, care and love, they can basically thrive almost anywhere. The same can be said for us. Granted, while we're not destined to live a life indoors all the time, we can thrive, grow vigorously, and bear good fruit when we realize that our needs our met. Unfortunately, at numerous times, it can be the unhealthy wants that's in our minds that block us from that balance.

   With this mindset, I kept this particular work a little more simple. There isn't as much fine detail, the edges are a bit rough, and the textured background is a bit more obvious. Without going into phenomenal detail, I tried capturing the spirit of this wild beauty.

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Weekly Spectrum - Beach Rose

   I was out for a walk about a week or two ago with a friend, when she plucked a prime specimen of a North Atlantic Beach Rose. She handed it to me saying, "Honey - you gotta paint what you're passionate about!"

   And so it goes and things change - blog posts as well as painting inspirations. After about two months, I'm satisfied with, and have run my course, with Maine barns and farms. I feel in my heart that my painting will now enter yet another chapter.


   A rose by any other name would not be so fair, nor smell so heavenly. And yes, here I am at it again painting flowers. However, with this new series, I am trying something different (at least for now). While I've painted every type of floral from bouquets, to small arrangements in vases, to abstracts, I've never focused on one single flower.




   Mixing and remixing paint to achieve the correct lavender shade. Layer upon layer, fold among fold. The petal ere so sweet shan't be trampled by mans feet. High upon the thorny branch, the delicate rose perchest. Plucked in the light of day - until its life spirit flitters away...


Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Weekly Spectrum - Apple Tree and Barn

   This painting began innocently enough way back on May 29th, but was finished about 10 days ago. I can remember taking a picture of this farm - it was one of those rare occasions where I wasn't initially drawn to it by a rustic barn. It was the huge apple tree in front that captured my attention! To say that the barn was dwarfed in size by the tree would be an understatement. Upon closer inspection, however, I noticed that the house was vacant and the barn was literally falling apart on the inside. The tree represented the only sign of life. The irony of man verses nature came to mind - long after we humans as well as our structures are gone, nature will persevere. It is a humbling thought that the Earth really doesn't need our help, unlike the way we depend and rely on her to keep functioning.

   I began with a sketch, painted the sky and grass. I roughed in the leaves of the apple tree, then the roofs of the house and barn. After a few hours, however, I noticed that I put quite a bit of detail into the apple tree - so much so, I had to wait several days before the paint would even remotely be somewhat drier.

   Unfortunately, the painting would sit forlorn on my easel like an abandoned child for at least another two weeks. By the time the paint was once again workable, I had to go in for a long-overdue surgical procedure. Then came the recuperating process. By the time I was ready to paint again, 16 days had passed. It was more difficult than I thought it would be to get back into the habit of painting. My leg was still sore and it was awkward to stand. I struggled for another day trying to recapture the ideas and concepts I had for the work. Frustrated, I called it quits after only two hours.

   After a good nights sleep as well as returned enthusiasm and determination, the painting came alive again. I balanced out the house and barn so the tree wouldn't overpower it. When I finished adding shadows to the painting, I called it done.

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Weekly Spectrum - New Hampshire Farm & Stone Walls

   Everything is still the same, only the title has changed. I thought I had read that somewhere once before, but couldn't remember from where. Be that as it may, the change in the blog title makes sense: "The Weekly Spectrum." Since ending the gallery wall talks series, I've been focusing strictly on using oils again as a primary medium. As just about everyone knows, oil paints take much longer to dry than say, watercolors or acrylics. I have to wait until the paint dries at least somewhat in order for my husband to photograph them without getting a glaring shine. As such, my blogging has been less frequent. Other factors such as schedule changes in our professional lives (we are much busier in the summer), as well as an overdue surgery, all contributed as to why I haven't posted anything in over a week and a half. These scenarios also made me take stock in how realistic my expectations were, and what they are now becoming. Now that we have that out of the way, onward to today's painting!

   This painting was worked on between May 25th through the 31st. In typical fashion, it began with a Burnt Umber sketch and a first layer of color added to the sky and fields (wherever the under-painting would not blend in). Then I let that paint dry. The sky got a touch of crimson to it to represent the evening sun. The trees, cows, barn, and house were then painted in. The stone wall was also done in layers in varying shades of grey. I used a fan brush to paint the foreground grass. At that point, I was satisfied and called it done.

   As I was typing this, my husband asked me where exactly in New Hampshire was this farm. To my best recollection, the farm was located just over the Maine / New Hampshire line in the East-Central part of the state, possibly near Rte. 25, but I'm not sure. We always take the less traveled state routes and back roads to get to most of our destinations. Many times, I will see something like this farm (or whatever else tickles my fancy) and have him stop the car so I can photograph the subject for future reference. The challenge with this farm, was that I photographed it over 15 years ago! So, at this point, your guess is as good as mine!

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Daily Spectrum - South Thomaston Horse Farm

   Today's painting contains several lessons. I wanted to branch out and do something a little different with this particular work and include certain aspects besides a barn. I started this painting around the 3rd week of May - it was on a Monday. It was the last painting I worked on that day and I was getting tired, so I rushed it. Multiple lessons here;
 - Don't rush,
 - Don't paint when you're tired,
 - Who says you have to complete more than one painting a day in order to "accomplish" something?
The end result was a quick sketch of the under-painting in brown, the sky went darker than I wanted it to, and the barn looked horrible.

   The next day, (and over the next several days), I almost started from square one. I reapplied the sky, reworked the grass as well as the dirt, and painted the "character" I wanted the barn to have. Yes, this barn is rather old. It does lean a little due to age, but has good bones - sounds like me sometimes.

   The details I added took longer than I expected, but were well worth it. The trees, two horses, the fence, and the shadows had me flustered at times, but those details made me stop, process the challenge artistically instead of technically, and then move forward. I was thinking for a bit if I should add something to the background in the grass, but my instincts told me that I had plenty of focal points as it is. I touched up a few minor details like the foreground grass and called this painting done... at last!

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Daily Spectrum - Hope Barn With Red Silo

   I began this painting about two weeks ago, back on May 13th, 2015. I started with the usual sketch and I was actually pleased with it the first time around. I then started painting the sky and added a base color of green for the foreground grass. The barn, house, and walkways were then painted in on the next day as the green was taking a little longer to dry than I had anticipated. The fence was left white when I originally painted the grass.

   Two days after that on Saturday the 16th, I worked on the entire painting again. I felt certain aspects seemed "off" or were missing. I got a little creative and added sheep in the field and a flower garden up front. I hit the silo with a deeper red, and shadows were added to the house, barn, and silo as well. I then added in another top layer of grass and touched up the fence. By the following Monday the 18th, the work was finally completed.

   I get asked quite a bit about two aspects of this painting, which is not even three weeks old - why is the house two different colors & why did I name it Hope Barn?
 - Answering the 1st question is a little in depth; this farm expanded over time like many farms did in Maine and throughout New England. The original portion of the house was brick. An addition was added, most likely when the family grew. That section of the house is actually shingled. The small portion of the farmhouse between the shingled addition and the barn was a second lighter shade of shingles, but I blended them more with the ones that are on the main house, and the barn is gray. So, yes - if you look at my original photo I took of the farm, it truly is four different colors!
 - The answer to the 2nd question isn't as complicated. I didn't name the barn or farm at all. It just happens to be in the town of Hope Maine. Mystery solved!

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill