Roses et al

Roses were my mother's favorite flowers. She had a large rose garden when she was younger with some very old bushes that were over 30 years old.  She just about prayed over that garden.  She also loved to work on the lawn. She would edge the grass with a hatchet while on her knees.  I was very grateful when my allergies prevented me from cutting the grass or doing very much yard work.  Neither my brother nor I liked gardening. We both preferred house plants that require much less care.

I do like painting roses, however.  Here are two examples of roses that I recently painted.

The vase study is the first time I attempted carnations.  I think they came out OK.  I started with daisies but did not like the way they looked.  I also had ferns in the vase but again did not like the final result.  One of the joys of oil painting is being able to paint over aspects that don't look well.  The other rose and bud had a large rose leaf in the lower left side (where the 3 green leaves are now).  It looked like a pseudopod rather than a petal and no amount of adjustment improved its appearance.  Painting over it and adding the green leaves worked!

I found this image of a tea cup with pansies in an art magazine.  I had a tube of permalba floral blue and used it for the blue pansy.  The color is really wonderful.  I have lots of Permalba paintings from various painting classes with Selma and Mary Carole.  Some of the colors are really great.  To personalize the painting, I painted one from our Royal Doulton set.  Again using oils was a benefit.  I did not like the striped wall paper in the background.  It was too prominent.  Discussing the painting with Donna Muzzicato, she suggested using medium and blending the color.  The paint was too dry for that but a wash of raw sienna was the right answer.