Painting sunflowers

This is my favorite small painting in my sunflowers series.

Sunflowers are so cheerful looking and their energy truly radiates. I knew when we moved here that they would be part of my vegetable garden, but I wasn't counting on the birds to do the planting for me!

I couldn't get over the multiple seed-heads - neither could the birds ;-)

This past summer was our second year of gardening in this location. (Read our other blog "Our Bear River Adventure" for the saga of moving to Bear River and finding our dream-come-true house.)  Last spring as I was preparing the beds for planting, I noticed little sunflower seedlings sprouting up. I had left the previous year's sunflowers standing in the ground so the birds could finish off the seeds.

Painting Detail.

A few of those seeds wintered over and the resulting sunflowers were either 15 feet tall, or short and squat with multiple flowers on them....they didn't look like the parent plants. Maybe some bird seed got into the mix too?  When they were at their peak last summer, I brought some into the studio to paint.

Detail of Sunflower painting on canvas by Flora Doehler.

I painted these on canvas using Golden fluid acrylics and matte medium. I paint with brushes and I use a scraping method called sgraffito.

Both canvases are for sale on our Green Willow Studio Etsy store. Yes! We have joined the many artists and craftspeople on Etsy and opened a store. Please take a look.

"Reaching". Acrylic on canvas by Flora Doehler.

Painting by Flora Doehler.

To Etsy or not to Etsy

I don't know why, but it has taken me over three years to organize myself to offer paintings for sale through an online presence. There are lots of 'painting a day' artists who do this and a myriad of virtual stores where anyone can set up an account for a price.

Nicotiana painting.

Etsy is the largest art and craft online store in the world and includes over 200,000 crafts people with storefronts. With that many choices, overwhelming is a word that comes to mind. At best Etsy is a testament to the high degree of originality and creativity in the world. A buyer can search by color of item, by location or by object. It also includes a wide array of supplies for crafters. There are also 'stores' with vintage items...things like the old Simplicity sewing patterns that some of use used to own (pre-decluttering!)

Working out flower placement on an oil painting of daffodills.

Our daughter Emily has been selling her original, handsewn stuffies, paintings and custom painted vinyls on Etsy for over five years. When I tell her that the setup seems very complicated she looks at me with a mixture of incredulity and skepticism and says softly “mom, I know you can do it”.  I suppose that broken record of hers has worn me down over the years and here I am!

Follow the White Rabbit  aka our daughter Emily on Etsy.

I am still 'building the store' and I am almost ready to make it live! As I post items I'll be writing about them here; giving you the back story, as it were!  I enjoy sharing my painting processes and discoveries with you in hopes that it will encourage you to explore  your own creativity.  And forget about your doubts about whether you can create. “I know you can do it”.