Sunflowers

Try as we might to stay focused, to stay on point, to try to follow our desires and to try to make progress…Well, everyday life has other ideas. John Lennon said “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.

That entire preamble might be a bit overly whiny. All that I meant by it was that instead of going out to paint over the past few days I was caught up in a family wedding. Please try to understand that when I don’t get to go out to paint I will dissolve into a worthless pile of self pity and woe. A bit too dramatic? Maybe, but I take what I do very seriously!

Some months ago my brother in law asked me if I would be his best man at his upcoming wedding and I very happily said yes. I love him very much and was honored to stand up with him. I was even happier when I learned, as he was marrying a Bonnie lass of Scottish descent, that we would be wearing formal kilts!

It was a great wedding and we had a great time. My wife and her sister were bridesmaids, it was a perfect day weather wise, and a great time was had by all.

However I don’t like to spend too much time away from the brushes. The rehearsal dinner was Friday night and the wedding and reception was this past Saturday and, as you might imagine, Sunday found me feeling…well, let’s just say I was in no fit state to drag my painting rig out and about looking for suitable landscapes to paint. As the day wore on and the cobwebs cleared I wandered downstairs to the studio and started to think about moving some paint around. If I’m not going to head outside but still want to paint from life (as opposed to from a photograph) then the only alternative is a still life.

I have a rather large pile of silk flowers and arranged them on my still life table in a shape that I found pleasing. I’m rather dead set against painting flowers in a vase most of the time. This sort of arrangement that I chose feels much more natural to me as if they were cut from the garden and just brought inside and laid on the table while a suitable vase is sought. I began this painting in what is an unusual manner for me whereby I simply started bringing the focal point flowers to a finish and just let the painting grow from there so that “Sunflowers” is approximately 6 X 13 on, as yet, un-stretched canvas.

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.