I have created a website as a display for my large finished paintings. It is a 'work in progress' and I think you will like the feature that rearranges the images when you click on a tag at the top of the page. For instance, clicking on 'landscape' brings up all the landscape paintings.
I had looked long and hard for a web design that showcased images on the home page, because this is what I want to see when I look at other artists' sites.
I'll be adding more images and some 'back stories' about the paintings. For now, I am glad that I have taken this step to show what paintings I've completed - all in one place.
Scenes from the Garden. Showing September 24 - October 12, 2011.
I am showing a selection of paintings of my garden at the ARTsPlace Gallery in Annapolis Royal starting today. It's a great feeling to see my work on display in such a sun-filled space.
That Day in the Garden. 30" x 36"
The Gallery is open from Tuesday to Friday, 9 - 4 pm., and on weekends from 1 - 4 pm
I will be at the Gallery on Saturday, October 8th from 1 - 4 pm, after the last outdoor Annapolis Market of the season. Please drop by!
Here is a video of the work in situ!
And here are photos of all the paintings. Clicking on the images will enlarge them.
Crocosmia. 7" x 9"
Blue Horizons. 10" x 12"
The Dancers. 10" x 12"
Dahlia and Nicotiana. 9" x 12"
I added black and white photos of my flowers to the display to give the viewer a sense of the setting I'm in.
Zinnias, marigold and golden rod replaced the iris and bergamot.
The paintings are small, for the room is tiny. I am painting each scene twice using first watercolours and then acrylic because I think it will be interesting for viewers to see the same scene using two different mediums and approaches.
These photos show the watercolour steps I went through in painting the zinnias.
...and this is what the acrylic painting looks like so far:
acrylic painting 11" x 14" by Flora Doehler.
I am so enjoying spending this time with the beautiful colour and blooms in the garden and listening to the birds while I paint. And being under a bit of pressure about it is a good way to keep on task!
I believe that the fewer the colours in a painting, the better. Still, it's tough to limit them when you love colour as I do. Now I want to use these 5 colours in a new painting that I can spend more time developing.
This past weekend I painted up a storm in the Historic Gardens in Annapolis Royal. The event, Paint the Town, is an annual fundraiser for the Annapolis Regional Community Arts Council (ARCAC). The resulting silent auction of the hundreds of paintings, sculpture and blacksmithing that is created also benefits the 75 participating artists.
Last year was my first time at the event and I blogged about it here. It's a wonderful chance to paint in heavenly surroundings and to meet artists from all over Nova Scotia.
My set-up at the Gardens.
Like last year, I spent the first day in the colourful Begonia labyrinth garden and the second day at the lower pond listening to the tiny waterfall and the wind in the trees. As relaxing as that sounds, I focused intensely on my task of painting many little canvases to be taken back to the gallery at the Legion for the auction.
Paintings from day 1: the begonias. (The iris were painted beforehand at home)
Here is a display of all the paintings from the weekend. You can see more detail by clicking on the individual image.
I used two different approaches to painting these small paintings. Either I mixed the paint with a lot of matt medium and scraped lines with my rubber-tipped tool, or I used a marker to draw a line-drawing on the canvas, then painted watered fluid acrylics overtop to create a soft, watercolour feel. Those paintings I sealed with matt medium.
All but one of my paintings sold. The painting with the blue blooms and the pink background came home with me along with a charcoal sketch.
I bought a beautiful monoprint from Nova Scotia printmaker Bob Hainstock. I love it and I will post it here soon.
This is my newest painting which is living at the Flight of Fancy gallery right now. I love the cerulean blue in it, especially in combination with the orange. All of the flowers in this bouquet were grown in my garden. I am so happy to see their smiling faces every day and I hope this painting shows that joy.
Floral Fusion by Flora Mary Doehler. (sold)
At this point there is such a profusion of colour that I can set up my canvas anywhere in the garden and find an amazing scene to paint.
Here are some details from the piece. It measures 30" x 36" and is acrylic.
