Late Bloomer

A co-worker of mine approached me in August about doing a painting for her. "Flowers!" she said. "Bold, colorful flowers."

I thought flowers wouldn't be difficult: I've done boats, birds, a port, apples and pears. How hard could it be to paint flowers? I was so naive.

While I did have an art show and a project or two for fundraisers sprinkled in, it took me almost five months to finish this flower painting. I brought it to my co-worker and she loves it. In fact, everyone who saw it said it said I did a great job and that the flowers (I chose hydrangeas) were realistic and all of the colors were vivid and bold.

In the end, I really like it. I'm proud of how it turned out. I battled this painting and stopped working on it several times to keep myself from tossing the canvas onto the street. In the end, a simple suggestion from Kimberly saved this painting: add a vase.

I painted the vase, or pot, and eliminated a few of the low-hanging blooms. Suddenly the painting had an anchor and an object to redirect the eye from the overpowering mound of blooms.

I added texture, highlights and shadows to the vase to give it a rounded look. I was proud to put my name on it.