Purple Tulips

"Purple Tulips" -- oil on canvas 22x28" -- Margie Guyot

Some people might think I'd lost my mind -- all that color!   But I was in the mood to paint COLOR!  Last weekend we'd had a 16" snowfall and were without power for 48 hours.  It was dark.  It was gloomy.  By some miracle my studio stayed about 50 degrees, even without the heating system.  I had to bundle up a bit more to work out there.

So the sun came out.  The snow has melted.  Well, mostly melted.  Robins are singing; crocuses are peeking up.  I was in the mood to do cartwheels across the front lawn.  That is, if I could do cartwheels.  In lieu of doing cartwheels, I decided to yank out the most colorful piece of fabric I could find and do something with the bunch of purple tulips I'd bought last week.  They were about to give out, so I had to paint fast.

But the painting wasn't challening enough.  Why not make it really interesting and add the acrylic box with the butterflies and the pink glass bowl?  It was damned near enough to kill me.  But even so, it was a lark, compared to sweeping, vacuuming and washing floors. 

Painting tulips is hard enough as it is.  They're always enlongating, ever so slightly.  Stick a bunch of tulips into a vase and the next day you come back, they've "grown" taller.  Or swooped lower, which was what these did. 

Purple is a tough color to try to paint.  Almost impossible to mix it and not have it turn out some muddy shade of reddish-brown.  I think I need to buy every shade of purple & violet they make.

This painting is a prime example of why Oil Painters of America seems to hate everything I do.  It's too gaudy.  Not brown enough.  After years of being a member and paying dues and entering their shows, I finally dropped them.  Why was I trying to paint something they might like?  It was pathetic. No, I finally decided life is too short to spend all my time doing things to try to win somebody else's approval.  

Japanese Tree Peonies

 "Japanese Tree Peony #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Japanese Tree Peony #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

Yikes!  Once again I've fallen behind on my blog posts!  And my Internet service is running slow this morning.  Still, an attempt to catch up a little this morning.  It's kind of a miracle I have any Japanese tree peonies at all.  I'd bought several plants at a moving sale about 5 years ago.  It was in the 90's.  From what I'd read about these plants, they should only be moved in early spring, in cool temperatures.  Somehow they survived being moved twice: first, to my house in Farmington Hills, and a second time, to my house up in northern Michigan.  They're quite beautiful when they bloom, but the blooms only last a couple days.

Geraniums

 "Geranium #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

"Geranium #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

 

"Geranium #3" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

 

"Geranium #4" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

 

The windowsills in my studio building are lined with pots of geraniums.  Some are 5 years old.  Some were picked up out of the trash and potted.  I haul them out to the patio in June and haul back into the studio in September.  They seem to like the south light and bloom like crazy all winter.  After painting some roses, I thought why not try painting geraniums?  My friend Jerry dislikes geraniums, calling them "old lady flowers".  But I love their colors!  

Some colors can't be mixed.  The great still life painter, Janet Fish, said that she owns every shade of red and yellow that's made.  One of the tube colors that I've found invaluable for times like this is "Aurora Pink".  It's a neon-pink that is dazzling.  Most pinks are impossible to mix.  Red and white oil paint, mixed, usually turns muddy.

 

For about the first 95% of the painting, it looks like a dreadful mess.  Just blobs of color.  It's the last few strokes of detail that make them look like anything recognizable.  Again, a good part of making a successful painting is controlling one's panic!

 

Decided I needed more different colored models to work from, so I drove to Pine Hill Nursery for more last night.  They're only 10 minutes away.  My favorite store!

Orange Rose

"Orange Rose #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

While doing the cupcake series, I began thinking of starting a series of flower paintings.  Roses are tough to paint!  All those petals!  But I reasoned that if I could slug it out with the frosting swirls and paper cups, surely I could figure out roses.  

I'd gone to the grocery store yesterday in Elk Rapids to look for more interesting donuts.  Alas, they all looked boring!  Then I spied bunches of multi-colored roses.  Ahhhhh!  That would be it!  

Had to hold this one in my left hand, looking directly down on it, while painting with my right hand.  And while Miss America (a very needy cat of mine) pawed insistently on my leg, begging to be held.  Oh, for a 3rd arm!  

I really loved this rose.  The center was darker than the outer petals.  It was an overcast day (to put it mildly!).  We'd had heavy rains and high winds and the power was out for 4 hours.  Creeks flooding, plagues, raining frogs....  Ooops -- sorry.... not quite that bad.  With now power, I had to choose between sweeping the floor, sorting paperwork, shoveling out the chicken coop -- or painting.  Easy choice!

More Donuts!

 "Donut with Pink Sprinkles" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

"Striped Donut" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

These were from the grocery store in Elk Rapids. Cheap, too: three for 97 cents!  Yeah, I'm sure you'll want to know what happened to the third donut?  Truth is, it's still in the bag in the studio.  I might get to it, but not for a while.  On a flower painting jag now.

I really enjoy painting donuts!  I find them easier to do than the cupcakes.  I set them on the windowsill in the studio so they get full sun.  That is, when we DO have sun up here.  Northwestern lower Michigan is notorious for its overcast days, from November until at least May.

The pink one was so cheery to do.  I love the colors!  It was decorated for Easter.  And the striped one -- I really like that one best.  It had such interesting designs & contours!   

"Tea for Two" -- oil on canvas -- 40x60" -- Margie Guyot

Fortunately I had anticipated a long string of interruptions when I started this painting. I'd started this right at the beginning of May, when gardening season started. That's when everything else gets shoved aside so you can get your flowers and veggies started. I used to feel guilty about leaving my art, but have made peace with it.

So I painted the blossoms first. I knew they'd only last a day or two. Used a Hawaiian-print shirt as a "tablecloth". I loved the colors, yellow and blue, of the fabric. And if you're familiar with my still lifes, you'll recognize my frog teapot set. They're so much fun to paint!

I guess the theme of this painting has to do with the Joy of Spring!

"Lilacs - Norwood" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

3 weeks ago we had snow flurries. This week it hit 90 degrees! The poor lilacs are burning out fast, so I've been trying to paint some views. I found these growing on the side of a ridge in Norwood, overlooking Lake Michigan. I was SO happy to have a nice shade tree to stand under!

"Lilacs" -- plein air field study -- 9x12" -- oil on birch panel -- Margie Guyot

A friend and I were driving to a concert on Sunday when I spied these in Eastport. Monday morning I drove over and painted this view. That's a little gravel road that leads down to Torch Lake. I took the liberty of moving the lilacs closer to the road.

The oil color I'd bought a few months ago, Vasari Ruby Violet, has really helped. Purples are hard colors to mix. The Ruby Violet has been a very handy color! I found out about it from one of my teachers, Scott Christensen.

I love painting in the early morning or late day -- I think the shadows really help create excitement.

Old Mission Peninsula Plein Airs

"Barn on Old Mission Peninsula" -- plein air field study -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

My friend, Al Maciag, and I were spending the day, tooling around the beautiful Old Mission Peninsula. It's NE of Traverse City, MI. He called me in the morning to say the cherry orchards were in bloom -- and did I want to go painting? Whatta question! I enjoyed the chance to be a passenger and sat, dog-like, gazing out the window. While I'm not a big fan of painting old barns, we decided this scene was pretty enough to paint. I believe this is a horse farm, as two were peeking at us from behind the wooden fence on the hill. A few clusters of blooming daffodils were livening up the scene. Please scroll down to the the two other paintings I did that day.

"Forsythia" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

While waiting for my friend's daugher and son-in-law to prepare dinner, Al and I scooted down the drive to paint some forsythia bushes in full bloom. After a dreary winter of blues and grays, the chance to paint screaming yellows was irresistable! Although the day had been overcast, the sky cleared later on. I loved the patterns of shadows on the street. Notice how the shade of yellow changed on the painted center line of the street? Showing sunlight and shadows is fun!
One more painting to check out:

"Cherry Trees" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

This was the first painting of the day. This area of NW Michigan is filled with orchards: apple, cherry, apricot, peach and plum. When they're in bloom, it's like heaven! We painted this orchard on Old Mission Peninsula, just NE of Traverse City.

The sky was bright but overcast, with a layer of thin, white clouds. No blue. As soon as I saw this scene, I realized that the cherry blossoms were actually quite dark, compared to the bright sky. They looked rather medium-gray in comparison. I loved the pattern of the sky and blossoms most of all. Of course, it was rather challenging to figure out how to paint this, but, like figuring out an algebra test (or a jigsaw puzzle), I knew to just stick with it and not panic.

You won't see any strong sunlight/shadow patterns in this one because there weren't any.

"Pink Hyacinth"

"Pink Hyacinth" -- oil on canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

Everybody up north here is really chomping at the bit for Spring. One of the best ways to deal with this (to me, at least) is to buy some spring flowers. And use them in a painting. These beautiful hyacinths smelled wonderful out in the studio. I just moved them into the house to enjoy before the studio kitties decide to rip them to shreds.

This is another painting in my "vintage tablecloth" series. If you'd like to see many more paintings -- not all flowers, either! -- check out my old blogsite: greatlittleoiltpaintings.blogspot.com.

Thanks for looking!