Lilies of the Evening, 12x12

This is my....
.....second attempt to paint this group.  I had tried it a few evenings before and bombed (see below) so came back a few nights later for another shot at it.  I think that if I counted there would be about half the number of lily pads represented here that were actually there.  As it was I was going cross-eyed trying to sort out an interesting view.

Here is the painting from before...sorry about the glare on it....and the resulting panel which was repurposed for this one.  I've found that some panels/canvases have to painfully learn what it is they are supposed to do.  Sometimes it takes multiple attempts for one to begin cooperating.

Of course that's a bad joke, but it feels like truth sometimes.  I have panels with five wiped off paintings leftovers underneath.

Thanks for looking!

Reflection, 10x15

Last Wednesday....
....I spent a lovely few hours around this small pond with a couple of painter friends.  They were painting over on the other side and the sound of their voices talking softly came across the water mingling with the quacking of ducks and the splash of Canada Geese.  It was mesmerizing to hear that and be able to look at the push and pull of the lily pads on top of the moving reflection of the trees.

This is an oil painting done on birch panel and needed very little in the way of retouching when I got home.  Just some picking out the fluff of the poplar cotton and seeds as they floated down on me and the paint.  I didn't need to do much redesigning of the scene either.  It's nice when things go easily.

Thanks for looking.

I'll be back.

Everything But Frog, 12x16

Stumbling through the studio.....

......I literally fell into this painting from about a dozen years ago....(I really need to do some straightening up).  It didn't break or tear, which was fortunate, but it did make me think that doing a lily pad series this summer would be interesting, especially if I approached it in a more abstract way.   The ideas for that are beginning to flow.  Stay tuned.

A few years ago we were touring Monet's estate, walking around his ponds, gardens, house and studio.  It was a huge studio....more like a garage for buses.  He painted his lily pad series, immense  paintings that covered 12x20 foot walls, later in life when his eyesight was beginning to fail.  He would do those pieces by running (well, maybe he didn't actually 'run') out to the ponds, taking a quick look, and returning to the studio to add what he could to those canvases.....day after day, week after week.  I read somewhere that soon he was to lose his ability to even see color, still able to paint because he knew where the colors were supposed to be on his palette and what it took to mix new hues.

It was his initial 'concept' that kept it all going....plus a huge dose of experience and a dedicated talent.

So, taking a lesson from one of the Masters, I'm working on my ideas.  I'm also working on where to find some lily pad ponds.  Suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for looking.