A Showy Daisy

During recent travels to the prairies of the mid-west, I was captivated by the beauty and the abundance of the purple cone flower.  As it was one of my mother's favorite flowers and her birthday was this past week, I decided to spend a day painting it. Its fresh countenance proudly displaying itself to the sun filled my brush with energy and a desire to capture its essence.  Made me feel my mother's presence and her love for this flower.  What a showy daisy!

Impression of a Guara

My long time friend Janet from Seattle gave me several new plants for my garden this spring.  One was a pink guara which stands just outside my studio window.  I wanted to capture its free and graceful way of splaying out from its pot and retain its sense of delicacy.  I started with an underpainting to convey the feeling of color and movement I wanted and added just enough detail to bring an impression of the flower out to the viewer. I've been away from the easel for awhile, but I can't wait to paint again.  Hopefully I will be posting more as I get going with a more regular painting schedule.  Thanks for checking out my blog!