Fresh Cut Peony


©Fresh Cut Peony - 6"x6" oil on ampersand gessobord

SOLD

Just a quick post for the first of the Leslie Saeta Challenge 30 paintings in 30 days. My theme will be "30 White flowers. I painted this same flower in another orientation about a month ago. I changed the palette a bit and made this one more yellow. I also used the palette knife much more on this one.

Tomorrow is a white Rose of Sharon.

"Barrington Belle"


©A.K.Simon - Barrington Belle - 6"x6" oil on Raymar panel - $85 (includes shipping)

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.

Oscar Wilde

Well I got through the white one then tried the red one and this is the third attempt. There is such a false sense of security after you paint something that you really like and you say after all these years, "I got this." Then comes the next white canvas and you try the same exact approach and you say, "maybe I don't got this!" So you struggle, wipe off the bad paintings then realize that the tones staining the canvas from the previous attempts are just what you needed to succeed with the third attempt. Moral, don't give up because we all "got this!" (just maybe not right away) 

Paeonia Petal Overload



© A.K.SIMON - Paeonia Petal Overload - 6x6 - SOLD

I will be the gladdest thing

Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Afternoon on a Hill"

Every year I try painting peonies. I don't grow any so I have to rely on others to share theirs. I even carry my camera on my morning walks so I can secretly take pictures of them in the morning sun at somebody else's house. This one is, I believe, what they call the paeonia and it is also considered the "common" garden variety of peony. Wow, if this is common I can't wait to see what's uncommon!

I'm not lying, peonies are my nemesis and I actually get a little anxious about painting them. Today though I remembered a line from Richard Schmid's book, and I paraphrase, "just don't worry about whether you have the talent and move on." So today I put on the headphones to distract me and just painted shapes with different values in a pattern. This is what came out and I think it is very representational of the feeling of "fruffiness" that I get when I think peony. Just don't tell me if you don't think so because I have a fragile ego where peonies are concerned!

Tomorrow the burgundy one! Much, much more challenging!

Blended Family

©A.K.SIMON - Blended Family - 6"x6" oil on gessobord - SOLD 

Quote for today: "Pick your battles with everyone, including yourself . . . remind yourself everyday that you have been given another chance at love and cherish that opportunity."                Jessica Warrick

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/quotes-and-advice-for-blending-a-family_n_6764840.html

This is another small study of flowers - pansies this time because that is what Donna brought to class (along with the rest of the garden complete with statue). Knowing myself and the pace at which I paint, this is my focus from that large, complicated garden set up. There was so much going on in that scene I decided, why not make the painting look like "all that is going on," so the stroke work became chaotic. But with "all that" I still needed to bring some focus and reason for the painting so here they are, two pansies sharing a pot (which almost ended up being named "two pansies sharing pot" but I remembered this is a family show). Strokes were added with regard for time and instinct. Donna noted that I had painted this with a big brush but I didn't realize that until she mentioned it to someone in class. Imagine that, instincts may be kicking in after all these years of painting.

"Ungilded"


©A.K.SIMON - "Ungilded" - 6"x6" oil on linen - SOLD

Today's Quote: Yet, the great ocean hath no tone of power Mightier to reach the soul, in thought's hushed hour, Than yours, ye Lilies! chosen thus and graced!
                                                                                                                                      Mrs. Felicia D. Hemans
I have never painted lilies before and of course they are abundant right after Easter, so here it is. This is just a little study that I did today in the studio. Not much to say other than it is always amazing to me that you can never use straight white when painting white objects. But boy does your mind really want to go for that white. You continually have to keep checking values to avoid your "mind speak". This one was really dumping its pollen everywhere. But you know as beautiful as I find the flower, the fragrance can be nauseating to me. I guess that's what attracts the bees but it can sure give a human a headache!

Fallen from Grace


©A.K.SIMON - Fallen from Grace - 9"x12" on wood panel - $200

“They are not long, the days of wine and roses. Out of a misty dream, our path emerges for a while, then closes, within a dream.” 
― Ernest Dowson, The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson

This is a piece done about 95% with the spatula which I have mentioned a few times in my blog. I painted the piece on a wood panel that I had cut down at our local home store. I had the wood left over from some furniture that I built for my studio in January. I gessoed the wood on all sides with a gray gesso to seal it then painted the sides and back black so it can be mounted easily in a floater frame (or other if you choose). I love this piece and it definitely commands attention among all my other studio pieces.

I have to give a shout out to my friend and teacher Donna Noice for sharing a photograph from one of her classes that I was unable to attend. It's not exactly like the picture but pretty close. She has given her permission for me to share it with you.

Swan in Mourning

Painted this today in memory of a dear friend who passed away 1 year ago on Tuesday. I took the picture of this swan at her favorite plein aire painting site. We miss you Connie! Here is a link to my original post: http://aksimonart.blogspot.com/2014/09/late-afternoon-swim-a.html



©A.K.SIMON - Swan in Mourning - 8"x8" oil on linen 

SOLD

On thy fair bosom, silver lake, The wild swan spreads his snowy sail, And round his breast the ripples break As down he bears before the gale. To Seneca Lake, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).