Spring paintings feel like a good choice when nature awakes
When else if not now to engage in creation of spring paintings? One can tell how much I love spring by just having a look at what I have painted recently: spring flowers, spring scenery and spring landscapes. I think I feel seasonal changes on a mental level very strongly. I cannot imagine I would be painting snow right now. Still life in that regard is the most neutral subject, but I felt I needed something more impressive.
My personalized realism
Most people believe I paint reality, but I do not. I use quite frequently real things, like I used real daffodils for the front part this time; however, I always beautify the reality and make any subject my personal reality. That means I give the subject my colors which I love at that moment, enhance the layout, and add extra contrasts or values, just to make everything more of what I experience at that moment.
Nature does not always cooperate
The truth is the spring has been slow again in Ontario. We even had very winter-like weather a week ago. Therefore, to facilitate the feeling of blooming and warmth, I just paint it. I decided to mostly post one image at a time whenever possible. Most people never read posts, so, they only have a glance at the featured image and move on. That is why most paintings, advice and images which are in the article go unnoticed.
Taking pictures
Taking pictures with iphone is very difficult. The extreme contrast is fine for any regular pictures, but not art. My solution is taking pictures with backgrounds, extra items, paints, brushes and similar. That works for the most part, but the painting area one works on, can be very messy sometimes. I mean, there are paint tubes, dirty paper towels, plates with leftover paint, brushes, sponges, jars with dirty water and all kinds of other things. Therefore, some pictures look messy by accidentally displaying some item which completely doesn’t fit the view.
Just imagine how it looks on my wall
My pictures still display more contrast than they should. Everything is usually well-balanced in my actual painting. I work in layers and for many hours in order to achieve the color balance. As you know, acrylic paints, at least the ones which are available in Canada, become much darker as they dry. One has to calculate that in when applying paint. It can happen so that sometimes white or yellow paint is very weak, and fixing the value imbalance requires extra work.
Available for purchase
Any of paintings are available from my studio. Paintings which are displayed in this post are 16 x 20 inches or 41 cm x 51 cm. I have to mention that because pictures look all the same on the internet. Anyway, enjoy the Daffodil barn and spring paintings! Daffodil barn got lots of great comments on Facebook and Fine Art America site this time, in particular, in acrylic artists’ groups. Please, see links to other posts and FAA sales site.
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Previous post about recent acrylic paintings: New acrylic paintings
Beautiful. I love how the buttercups are at the forefront just beckoning my eye in. This reminds me of our homestead.
Thanks so much! well, I believe your homestead brings up buttercups in fields. I painted daffodils which are next to the painting, I know, the picture might be too small to recognize detail. I think everybody perceives everything in their own way which is great. I appreciate your comment.
Spring has come and summer is following. Lovely reminder that we live in an amazing world.
And we need eyes to notice it all! Thanks so much for your nice comment!
Beautiful spring! You are painting with your heart, Inese.
Thanks so much, Inese! I’d like to add that I cannot paint any other way, but only devoting myself completely to whatever I am doing at that moment. It is nice that art can absorb that and allow others to feel the same excitement I had while creating this art.
Interesting to know how you work, and the challenges you have to go through, to achieve your goal.
Here if am sure with better weather, just a couple of days ago went through a Winter rain, highly unusual for this late on the Spring season.
Best regards Inese. 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by!
It hasn’t been an easy time. I was feeling like I was finally getting back my inspiration and willingness to work, but, unfortunately, I have to move again and that is going to interfere with my plans big time.
Oh well, the only challenge for me mostly is to get time to do any drawing or painting. I had 2 doctor’s appointments this week and one was far away, so, that meant pretty much lost days.
I think one can create something if they lock all doors and do not respond to anything. Who would allow that? Nobody. There are some artists who disappeared for about 3 months at a time and that’s when they could create meaningful art. For some unknown reason, any phone call would come in when I just squeezed out paint and started to mix it. By the time I’m finished with the call, paint has dried, too. That way.
I know you had to move, too, but I didn’t expect moving this year again. The landlord claims they need the house for themselves, so, there is very little one can do. We are looking for another place, and that takes abnormal time, lots and lots of paperwork, and most of this time is wasted. Therefore, I rarely get to serious painting, but I still managed to finalize a few pieces.
My personal problem is that to paint I cannot have any interruptions at all. I need nobody being around and absolutely nobody interfering. It is the mental level that must be suitable and fit. To me, painting is less technical, but more emotional thing.
I had moved twice in two years, the first time after been in the same place for over sixteen years, and this last one eighteen months only, I know how disruptive that can be, I have barely three months in my new place, and in this place I got to fix, and buy new things, plus since I moved in a hurry, couldn’t organize my belongings too well, and to find anything, it’s quite a challenge of going through boxes, as for example I read what I find, not what I want, it’s good, and it’s bad, but sometimes I get a little bit flustered by the whole thing, and remind myself I got to take things as they come, and have patience.
To be unable to do what you love, and want, and to take care of things you must do regardless if you feel like doing something else, it’s always a mental, and physical challenge, to exercise our patience, and self control, plus as we get older, well things are more exacting. and drain your energy faster.
My best wishes to you Inese. 🙂
We have extra high levels of real estate speculation in Canada. That makes it really tough to find a place where to stay longer because the landlords joggle between renting or selling or whatever whichever brings in more cash.
Therefore, I’m in a similar situation what you had. Except, it is always moving a huge house plus studio, there are many rooms. I also have about 1500 pieces of paintings and huge numbers of books, as well as 5 large closets of cloths. Add to that garden stuff, and you get the picture. I did not luckily unpack the sewing room boxes, there were a lot. Even basement has lots of stuff because husband has musical equipment from loudspeakers to microphones, he plays guitar and sings. Therefore, our moving becomes something epic and hard to handle. If I have to do it every year, I have to admit it’s way too much. I am mostly the one who packs and it is a time-consuming nightmarish thing.
You are right that it does not end with moving out, you have to organize it all again after you move in. Realistically, I am willing to pack things up, but I probably will not be unpacking all of them. Nightmare with a capital “N”. We stayed for many years in the previous place and I had already forgotten all this.
Tell me about it, I feel your pain, the first move I had to load all to a rented truck, and drive 135 miles, to put it on a storage unit first, since I was not allowed to cross the border with the rental truck, I knew that so I reserved a unit, on my arrival, by some weird storm they had the electricity was out, and were not able to function, so no storage unit for me, had to drive around without knowing where another facility will be available near by, by asking people around found a new place, more expensive of course, and had to hurry up the unloading, since they will be closing soon, and I had to deliver the rental truck at 6PM, or pay another day.
I was able to do that within 5 minutes before 6PM I started my move at 6AM then I had to walk to the border with a big suitcase for two miles, were the cab drops you, you got to walk all that.
On the other side paid someone to take me to the bus station, and arrived to my new place somewhere about 10PM with a suitcase.
Needles to tell you I had to rent another truck to go and pick up my stuff a week later, and do it all over again, the place I rented was on a second floor, and had to carry it all by myself upstairs and through a long corridor, it was exhausting.
At least this time my son helped me to move, and only was two miles away, but had to do it in a hurry, since I only had two days to do it,
The first moving I packed everything in about a month, the second was just throw everything as it is!
Yes it’s a Nightmare with with a capital “N”. 🙁
That sounds like a major move. All kinds of disasters along the way. I know we can manage unmanageable if we have to. You did just that.
My lightest move was across the ocean: 1 suitcase in total. I sometimes wonder why cannot we keep it that way.
I moved about 11 times while I was in Latvia, sometimes lighter, sometimes with a lot, and every time I lost or damaged something.
While I am in Canada, we have moved the house already 6 times. Trust me, that is a lot. In average I moved every 3 years, but in reality that was quite frequently every 2 years, and now is the last drop and it is now moving the second year in a row.
It is easy to move in Latvia because all people who help know how to do it. It is nightmare in Canada because nobody, even some so-called professional movers did not have a clue. I wonder why that is?
I think Canadians have less of what we call common sense. It’s like they need an instruction for every step they make or take. It feel like you are always dealing with some morons who never moved anything, yet, they apply to help. If I was moving in Latvia, I would not be worried at all, but here I am. You would not believe what dumbness I have had to witness. It took my breath away. I’m not surprised all kinds of counselling services thrive because the average IQ here just seems to be extra low. I don’t know how it is possible somebody can be so stupid and inattentive, but it’s just how it is. That was the main issue I encountered.
Ooh, I so love how you incorporated your own cut daffodils into the barn scene!
Thanks! I used them for paining, but I agree the final look is nice.
Beautiful work Inese. I have enjoyed looking at them and reading about your creative process.
Thanks for stopping by! It is always a bit different way of painting.
This is absolutely beautiful! I love the colors you used.
Thank you. I usually use oly those colors which I like or which feel good to me at the moment of painting. Colors change over time, and depend not only on subject, but also on my mood. Thanks for commenting!