New Native

I bought a bouquet of a native flower that is new to my personal flower arranging and gardening vocabulary. Its common name is Blushing Bride, botanical name is serruria florida, a member of the proteaceae family. It is a lovely flower, and my local florist loves it. She has been recommending it to me for months, whenever it is in good condition. It is now and she suggested it again, this time I agreed to try it (I had never seen it before).

It is a lovely flower, creamy white with pretty pink and scarlet details.

I have done up a pretty vase with this and took a few photos. My photo library of reference materials and inspiration is growing nicely. These blushing bride flowers are really pretty, I will be getting these again sometime. Hope you like them too !

One More

I decided to do one more painting of golden roses. One has been completed. One is started and in progress in the Western Studio. And one is started here just today.

I did a good bit of work on it. A different composition than the others. But some of the same flowers are in it, plus a few more. I also decided to work on a larger canvas this time, 30" x 40".

Here are some in progress shots. I missed using New Gamboge, a new pigment I have in the Western Studio. I will have to order an extra tube to have sent there, to bring back at end of the month, when I will be passing through there. New Gamboge is a perfect color for these golden roses paintings. Not too yellow, not too orange, transparent and good for creating glowing glazing layers--just right !

It is amazing to see how adding the dark greens in these compositions really makes the flowers "pop".

More tomorrow and Wednesday. I will do a small bit of painting on this before I leave. I like to leave a painting in progress at home on the easel when I leave to travel. Great to consider what to do while I am away. Nice to return to, beckoning me to paint.

Park in Sao Paulo

Two weekends ago, I was in Sao Paulo, Brazil and with some friends from work went to a lovely city park. It was a very peaceful Saturday, with many people walking, bike riding and enjoying a warm early winter afternoon.

There were some nice scenes, like a lake which reflected the trees above, like a mirror, or even a miniature fiord. Very nice.

And some lovely swans. We saw ducks, geese (honking noisily) and saw lovely swans too. Both black and white ones. I got a quick photo showing one of each (most of my photos are of pairs of black or white swans).

More soon, I will squeeze in some painting time this week, even as busy as I am. But for now, the photos of the swans reminds me to breathe deeply, relax and let some of the work pressures go !