Granny's Irises

I actually started this piece last spring after I painted the portrait of my mom, but it got put on the back burner half way done and I just decided to finish it. My original idea was to have my mom's portrait in purple (her cancer ribbon color) in between two images of purple things from her garden, which was her favorite place to be.  These flowers totally remind me of her out in her garden.  I can almost see her there.

"Granny's Irises" acrylic on canvas 12"x 24"

My favorite thing about the painting is the fence. I like the way the highlights turned out and having it there totally makes the difference between these being irises that could have grown anywhere, and irises that my mom grew in her garden.  These are just outside the front door and you pass them right before walking out the gate onto the side walk.  I looked at that fence and the tree behind it everyday of my life growing up in that house and these wouldn't be "Granny's Irises" without them.

Here is the original photograph that I painted the picture from:



Overall, I'm happy with the project and have some renewed ambition to complete my original idea and make another long skinny piece to hang on the other side of the portrait.  I'm still deciding what it should be.  These same flowers from a different angle where you can see the front door of the house? The plumb tree (she was known for her plumbs and made fabulous desserts with them)?  Different flowers?  Stay tuned to find out.

Happy Graduation

I've had so much positive feedback from the painting I did of my mother last year that I've been anxious to try it again. I decided to try it with the photo on a graduation announcement that I received in the mail from one my friends of her son.

Here is the end result:


"Happy Graduation" 12"x12" acrylic on canvas

The original graduation invitation:

Overall, I liked it enough to give it to him as a graduation present, but I don't think I "captured it" in the same way that happened with my mom's painting.  One of my favorite watercolor artists, Janet Zeh, said once that she was told early in her career that in order to be a successful watercolor artist you have to paint 1,000 pictures. At the time that was too overwhelming of an idea.  Then she heard someone say you only had to paint 100.  That seemed much more doable.  After years of practice, she later learned that the first guy was right, but having the smaller goal helped her stay motivated and have something realistic to work toward.

I like it.

Maybe I'll make that my goal too.

Two down, 98 to go :).