Big and Bold

I used to have a watercolour professor in art school named Juanita Pollard. She encouraged us to paint big and to use the largest brushes possible so we would loosen up and not scratch like chickens in tiny little places. Her philosophy was "Get a broom!" I have to be honest, I like working smaller. It's in my comfort zone and doesn't feel overwhelming. But I got a commission from a friend, as her "consulting artist", and although she has a number of my artworks on her wall, from 5" x 5" quilted squares to 40" x 40" collaged ink drawings, she wanted a BIG painting on her living room wall.

First I needed a canvas, so Naomi, my daughter, and her carpenter-savvy friend, Joseph, built me a beautiful 60" x 60" frame out of poplar wood. Then we stretched it with cotton duck, and I gessoed it (three coats, with sanding in between). The only viable place to paint this, without causing a domestic clean up disaster, was to take it out to the garage, which, fortunately faced north, for the best light.

Step 1 was complete, so now, deep breath, I actually had to paint something. I knew that Ellna loved the colours, turquoise and pink, and that she loved Gerber daisies, but I wanted it to also look lofty and inspiring. Ellna has been slowly remodeling and decorating her house to be a bright, warm, open place to be. She wanted to surround herself in her own special environment, so I knew I wanted her to bask in something that brought her happiness. So first I painted a background.

Disclaimer; None of the colours look accurate in these photos. They show up either too garish, too washed out, or incorrectly coloured, and Naomi with her magic photography skills, hadn't the time for documenting my daily progress so it was just me and a cell phone.

Then I added one giant flower reaching for the sun. I went with white so it would pop out against those rich pastels.

It needed some movement so I added the petals flying away. Nope. Too many petals. And one looked like an extracted tooth.

Painted over two of the petals. Still needed a bit more so I added the silhouettes of other flowers. Then more rays of sun, to which I added some metallic gold paint to give a soft gleam.

Following an internal dialogue to KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) I added final coats of varnish. We loaded it onto Naomi's truck and delivered it to its' new home. Mission accomplished!

Now I'm going to paint something really, really small.