Saturday, June 27, 2015

A Trio of Geraniums




A Trio of Geraniums
12" x 24"
Oil and Collage on Wood Panel

I've always wanted to pair collage with oils as I mentioned in one of my previous posts.  I'm excited to do more like this.  Maybe it's finding unexpected patterns and textures peeking through here and there.

Friday, June 26, 2015

White Geraniums in Silver

8" x 10"
oil on wood panel



Remember my previous post about painting geraniums?  Well I may have been a little premature.
Painting white geraniums without the best lighting conditions did present more of a challenge.  I do enjoy painting white flowers because of the nuanced colours that appear when painting anything white.  But my photographic skills were not up to par and it was rather difficult to ad lib colour so although I'm satisfied, I'm not thrilled.

And now summer begins....

I haven't been posting much lately but that's about to change.  Spring was all about preparing for a two day outdoor craft market.  Only this time I was part of the organizing team as well as a participant.  We prayed for good weather and that's exactly what we got.  It was amazing!  On to the
next weekend........a wedding at home in the garden!!  Two major events one week apart but many weeks in the planning.  Again, prayed for good weather and that is exactly what we had. (In a season that has had a roller coaster of a weather pattern too!)

We had the food part catered and thought we'd make our own dessert table but enough is enough!  We used a fantastic bakery to provide us with mini pies.  They are called Rustique Pies and that is what they specialize in.  Cutest little individual pies and tarts as well as a variety of baked bars, meringues and every type of home style baked goodies.  

Now when it came to the wedding cake, I decided to try what has become wildly popular, the "Naked Cake".  When told about this by my daughter (who is a wedding photographer) I was highly skeptical.  But just browsing through Pinterest was enough to convince me.  Leaving the cake "au natural" with just a filling/frosting in between the layers and then garnishing the cake with fresh flowers and fruits seemed right up my alley.  I do have a tendency to live dangerously (in the kitchen) and made this for the first time for the wedding.  It was an almond flavoured cake and went together beautifully but if I had it to do again I would've made sure the imprint from the cooling rack was disguised.  Something I didn't notice until I looked at these pictures!  More flowers would've done the trick.  But if that's the worst that could've happened, then I am extremely grateful!



Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Geraniums

Who would've thought geraniums with their little florets would be so appealing to paint?  The clusters that make up one flower would seem daunting.  But each little distinctive flower that make up the whole are so simple that I've returned to painting these several times over.  This time I wanted to try a little collage for the background.  This one is not finished yet but I think I will try a few more like this and perhaps add my drawing first so I can place the papers more strategically.

12" x 24"
Oil on wood panel with collage