Category: Flowers

Tulips grown from bulbs are always cheerful, especially with the cold and gray weather we’ve been having in New England this March. Below you see the painting in process on my art table, which used to be our dining room.

This morning at 6:30 a.m. spring officially arrived. Since there’s still snow on the ground in Boston, it’s hard to believe, but the long days are so welcome.

As I made this little sketch, I was thinking about complementary colors and negative shapes. Complementary colors are opposite on the color wheel, like yellow and purple, so a purple background makes these daffodils more dramatic. One trick to drawing accurately is to shift your attention between the positive shapes — the flowers and foliage – and the negative shapes around them.

Today is the one year anniversary of my double knee replacement. For nine years before my surgery, I had increasing trouble with my knees, including five arthroscopic surgeries, and I was headed toward a cane and a much more sedentary lifestyle. Now I’m 100% pain free, in my 30th year of taking yoga classes, and Bruce says he has to hurry to keep up to me when we walk together.

I am incredibly indebted to my supportive family and friends who got me through the months before and after my surgery. But most of all I am so grateful for my wonderful husband Bruce who dealt with not only my pre-operative limitations and post-operative healing, but also with my “wackiness” as I suffered emotional ups and downs especially pre-surgery.

I am deeply indebted to orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Phillips, New England Baptist Hospital, Lasell Rehab, and Pro Sports Physical Therapy. We are so blessed to have access to modern medicine!

I found this in an old sketchbook, which had lots of crap and this one painting worth saving. It takes a lot of failure to produce a little success!
What I really like about this is the slightly messy approach — a little pen mixed in, and overlapping shapes. Notice the pale pink leaves in the upper middle — paint dropped into a previously wetted shape. The magic of watercolor!