Sunflowers on Sunday 20″ x 16″ Oil on canvas
Whenever I can incorporate a vintage piece of ware into a still life, I like to do that. There’s something about bringing an object from another time into the present that interests me.
This painting evolved from an initial acrylic painting I did on paper. One evening, I set the vase on the floor of my office, put some music on, gathered my acrylics and brushes, and settled onto a few pillows on the floor. I didn’t have much of a plan. I just started painting.
And don’t you love the yellow painter’s tape? It definitely added a bit of fun for me.
The featured oil painting came directly from that acrylic. I can’t remember the last time I painted an oil painting from an acrylic, so it was fun to see what would happen.
The experience of working with oil paints is very different from working with acrylics. Oil is my favorite—the richness of the colors and the slow way the paint responds are things I really enjoy. But acrylic has its own particular energy. Because it dries so quickly, I can layer over existing marks almost immediately. Things can become simplified or rearranged before I have much time to think about them.
I think some of that found its way into this painting. It feels a little flatter and more graphic than some of my other sunflower paintings. The flowers, leaves and vase seem to occupy the picture plane differently, and I like that. It wasn’t something I set out to do. It simply evolved from beginning with the acrylic.
I paint sunflowers at least once each year, usually around this time when the season is beginning to change. There are so many sunflower fields around here, and I can’t help but smile when I see them.
This year’s interpretation has a different character from some of the ones I’ve painted before. That’s one of the things I enjoy about returning to the same subject. The sunflowers may be the same, but I am not coming to them from the same place each time.
Maybe that’s what I find so interesting about painting. You can return to something familiar and still discover something different.
If you have questions or are interested in acquiring either of these pieces, click on the button below.
Thank you, Catherine
Categories: Flowers, Nature, New Paintings, Seasonal art, Still Life
