National Rose Month: Day 29
Posted on June 29, 2021
The rose is the flower and handmaiden of love – the lily, her fair associate, is the emblem of beauty and purity.
—Dorothea Dix
I wanted to create a painting of a tangle of flowers from my garden that included lilies, roses and coneflowers—abundance from the month of June. I used contrast of value and thickness of paint to create the focal point on the roses, reserving the impasto and lightest value to draw the attention to the creamy pink blooms.
Summer Sonata
Framed painting: $595 plus shipping
(10 x 10 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 28
Posted on June 28, 2021
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” —Maud Hart Lovelace
Summer Trellis
(11 x 14 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 27
Posted on June 27, 2021
Brushstrokes describe the form of tender petals. I wanted to capture the pop of red against the subtle color of the paler roses. The fallen petals and debris from the fading leaves add interest to the foreground.
“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.”
Roses in a Trumpet Vase
Framed Painting: $495 plus Shipping
(12 x 12 inches, oil on panel)
Available for Sale through Paypal
National Rose Month: Day 26
Posted on June 26, 2021
Loveliest of lovely things are they on earth that soonest pass away. The rose that lives its little hour is prized beyond the sculptured flower. —William C. Bryant
Purity
Framed painting: $450 plus shipping
(8 x 8 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 25
Posted on June 25, 2021
Rose Demonstration & Tips
If you are new to capturing roses in oils, before you start painting, it is important to think about creating the underlying form of the rose. A closed rose bud is like an egg. Don’t worry about the petals that you see on the bud, just break down the shape as a simple oval, before adding any details. The form of the open rose is like a cup and the center is usually warmer and darker than you think!
My first step is to draw the composition onto the panel using a thin wash of cadmium red thinned with Gamsol. At this stage I am placing the simple shapes. If I am not happy with my composition, I can wipe the panel down and adjust. I love to work from life, but sometimes other priorities such as work and family take precedent. Sometimes I start from life and have to finish from a photo of my set-up.
For the next step I work in the background color onto the panel using a thin wash of color mixed with Gamsol. To create softer edges, I use a paper towel soaked in Gamsol to wipe out certain areas, too. 
I start to establish the darkest dark that I see on the main rose and add some details to the glass vase.
I use the dark tone on the main rose to help me judge the other values. I also squint to help me to judge the color values and try to simplify the shapes of color that I see.
I keep squinting and add more detail to the focal point—all the while I am thinking about lost and found edges and little shapes of color.
I reserve the thickest paint for the flowers (using no medium or solvent), keeping the most detail and hardest edges on the focal point and the roses that are closest to the viewer. If my paint is too thick or if I want to add a glaze, I like to use just a touch of Oleogel by Rublev as my medium. I create the roses in the background with softer edges and less detail to help create depth and keep the interest on the focal point.
My last step is to check edges. I want to make sure I don’t have any hard edges near the outside of the painting. Often I walk a way for a bit to view the painting with fresh eyes—even placing it in another room or upside down. Here is the finished painting!
Grace
(11 x 14 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 24
Posted on June 24, 2021
I have found, after a good deal of consideration, that the best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for Him here.
Garden Song
(14 x 11 inches, oil on panel)
Framed painting: $425.00 plus shipping
National Rose Month: Day 23
Posted on June 23, 2021
People die . . . so love them every day. Beauty fades . . . so look before it’s gone. Love changes . . . but not the love you give. And if you love, you’ll never be alone.
—L. J. Smith
Fading Beauty
● Sold (8 x 10 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 22
Posted on June 22, 2021
According to the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, Englishman Robert Brooke was the first man to import hunting hounds to America, bringing his pack to Maryland in 1650 when he imported his horses and a pack of foxhounds. The first organized hunt for the benefit of a group (rather than a single patron) was started by Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax in 1747. In the United States, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both kept packs of fox hounds before and after the American Revolutionary War.
This teacup inspired this painting and the red roses seemed to be the perfect complement for the rider with his red coat.
Hunt Club Tea
● Sold (8 x 10 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 21
Posted on June 21, 2021
“Give her two red roses, each with a note. The first note says For the woman I love and the second, For my best friend.”
In this painting I wanted to play with the different shades of creamy white and the warm colors found in the center of some of these roses. The red roses are the divas that demand your attention in the center of the composition. The soft grey background keeps the focus on the beautiful forms of the roses.
Valentine
(14 x 1 1 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 20
Posted on June 20, 2021
“When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Where is beauty to be found? In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment. ”
—Muriel Barbery
Teapot with Roses
● Sold (16 x 20 inches, oil on panel)
