Sucker for poppies!!

Well, Friends, you know me! I LOVE flowers but I am a SUCKER for poppies so... Poppies it is! You know the photo I am basing it on. It has had several iterations and here we go with the latest!

The original photo I took in 1966 

This is the tiny prizewinner. 

This is the big one, Poppies Aglow II

I have made two quilts from it, one which is a tiny 7"x10" one, mostly hand dyed silks and it was chosen to be part of the permanent collection in the US National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. I

I have begun working on the background. I'm using a full sheet of Winsor and Newton NOT watercolour paper and mostly W&N paint but not strictly. So far, so good.

AGES ago, when I did my first poppy quilt, I did some fairly careful but simplified pencil drawings of the two individual poppy blooms.

These are ok to work from but my WC version will, HOPEFULLY, have more of the details.

There is a LOT more interesting detail in the photo but it was not needed when I was doing the quilts.

You know the expression, "like watching paint dry". Whoever coined that saying must have been a watercolourist !! It is especially true when you are working wet into wet as I am now with my background. This is a slow process, made slower by poor light conditions- and "genealogical diversions" along the way. So, here is the story to date...

You may not even be able to see the pencil drawings unless you have VERY good vision, which I do NOT!!

The grid lines are all erased now , colours chosen, and so we begin...

I shall not use them all but likely MANY

Just keep going

... and GOING!

This is about where I am at the moment. I want to try to finish the background and then tackle the poppy heads . They will be done wet on DRY to keep colours where I want them. Stay tuned and please wish me luck. I would LOVE a nice bright day , making colour choosing a happier experience.

One done.. ready to start afresh

My Colchicum watercolour- half sheet of Winsor and Newton 140 lb NOT paper and mainly WN watercolours..

Here we are -- fini  with the Colchicum painting. Sadly, this is not very brilliant. I am not sure why, maybe just the copy I chose. In reality, it is GLOWING and I was very pleased about that. Now, I am at a painting crossroads! Where to go next??

I have two potential subjects and SHALL, eventually, paint both I expect. I have stretched two pieces of WC paper today and they are drying now. They won't be useable for a couple of days.

The next subject will be either....

I did the original photo in a corn field in Wiltshire England way back in 1966 on our honeymoon but LOVE the pic so much that I had to make a quilt--TWO actually. This is the BIG one, Called Poppies Aglow II but I also did a tiny prototype, 7"x10" called Poppies Aglow. It is now part of the permanent collection of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah KY!

....or

Common old Chicory ... like little bits of sky fell to earth. I love it. I have watercoloured it before, long ago as a botanical painting but want to do it as a full painting with background and everything

So... what to choose, what to choose?  I want to do BOTH but THINK I am leaning toward the Poppies- get them out of my head! Do you ever have that problem? Things get in there and nothing will do but I answer the call and just DO IT!!!

Yesterday, I stretched my papers, half sheet for chicory and full sheet for the poppies. So , just tape the papers down and then gently grid them appropriately...CHOOSE only ONE subject and DRAW!! Stay tuned.

BTW, I hope and trust that you are all cheering Spring on! If not.. WHY not!  Cheers for the moment. be creative!

Getting old, Blogging and Painting!!!

I had my 76th birthday a week ago! No problem but I am ready to start a new painting now... and there IS a problem. Here is what I want to paint-

Colchicum, with Lady's Mantle , Dying Hosta and fallen Magnolia leaf background. BTW, the big black triangle on the left about half way down is a SCREAMING , still VERY GREEN Hosta leaf I did not want so, out it goes!!

This is a Colchicum (Autumn Crocus) at our front door  when it was in bloom- Late October- early November. They are soo pretty. Such delicate looking blooms for the time of year and the gorgeous mottled fuchsia pink is to die for. I have some closeups of the stamens for my detail work. You cannot believe how beautiful they are. I SHALL post them eventually but let's get over these little hurdles first.

As I am getting old, my EYES are giving me grief- so it is VERY hard to see the details I love to draw and to paint. If you look closely at this photo, you will see that I have OUTLINED all the parts I have trouble distinguishing , using a fine Microperm pen. (I LOVE those pens!!)

Then, in preparation for DRAWING my bloom and sketching in leaves, stems, interesting bits from my background, I have drawn a 1" grid on an 8.5"x11" paper. This crop of the painting is 7.25" X 10.25" so, enlarged, it will nicely fit my half sheet of watercolour paper- 15" x22".

Now, here's the trick!! I can draw anything I really want to draw. Lucky me! BUT, as I cannot SEE the details well, I put a sheet of clear acetate over my photo, and trace over the nice clear little black lines I drew over the photo. . Then, I tape my original photo to a piece of heavy card for colour reference and the acetate tracing to the gridded paper... like THIS...

Gridded paper with the acetate  tracing taped onto it so I can see clearly to draw onto the WC paper

See how clear this is now!! I do not TRACE the drawing onto the enlarged grid on my WC paper. I will DRAW it myself, just as I would draw from the photo... if I could SEE the darned thing clearly! So, ya see- you Can work around developing cataracts if you are determined enough. I have not started my drawing yet but HAVE gridded my WC paper, 2" squares ... like THIS

A half sheet of Winsor and Newton 140 lb NOT paper with a TWO INCH grid drawn onto it.

I am excited to get at this painting. I have had a BIT of a hiatus, having finished the Kale a couple of weeks ago. It took me a while to decide which of my MANY photos to work from. The Colchicum won out!! NB, I am using a HALF sheet this time. It was fun working on a FULL sheet, but my back got pretty tired ( see the reference to my advanced age!)

I'll post steps as I continue working on this painting and will also post sone details of the stamens! They are GORGEOUS!! I am going to TRY to post this to Facebook too! Cheerio for now:-)

New Year

Greetings All and VERY best wishes to you for a wonderful, creative and healthy New Year. I have been VERY slack on my blog lately, partly as I am not quilting , partly that I am VERY lazy having had a lot of major health problems to deal with in my family! It wears me out but we ARE coping and getting along with things now, so hopefully, I'll be more regular!

I keep thinking I should close this blog as it is sort of "false advertising" now but it is likely where people know to look so perhaps just THINK of it as "rtpainter" now instead! I am in the middle of divesting myself and my laundry room/studio of all of my quilting and dyeing STUFF!!! MY goodness gracious, I have a LOT of stuff down there!!! I have one, possibly two friends coming next week to pick over the PILES and see what would be helpful to them. I want no money for this stuff, just the space and the peace of mind knowing that there is ONE SMALL corner of the house where there is SOME semblance of order. We are getting older and as we have only one child, thinking of HER having to clean up this place after we have shuffled off, is keeping me awake nights!

These pics represent a fraction of my STUFF! I DO hope someone can use it- some of it, at least!

Same stuff from the other end of the table!!!

I have finished my Kale painting. It is on Arches 140 lb cold press paper, a full sheet.. 22"x30". It was  really quite a HUGE job, started before my watercolour course and finished after it was done. I THINK , on the whole, that I am fairly pleased with it. It has been such a long time since I painted seriously and it feels REALLY good. Painting/drawing for me is a great retreat into peace and sanity. I always enjoyed the Fibre Arts but my true love has always been painting!

This photo is , unfortunately, kind of woolly! I REALLY need to shoot pics of my paintings with the big Nikon Camera and proper lighting. These are all just phone pics... OK, but not beautiful!

I recently submitted a DNA sample to Ancestry.com. DH gave it to me for Christmas as he knows how hard I find it knowing only one side of my family! My Dad, born in 1919 was adopted by two maiden English sisters who worked for a while in Hamilton ON as Matron and Asst Matron of the WCTU Nursery, where Dad was left as an infant. I have the official adoption papers from 1925 when the whole thing was finalized. His birth name was James Davidson but Grandma and Aunty officially changed it to Theo Hamilton Morris. I have agonized over learning more about Dad's family forever. I MAY have a tiny crack opening in the secrecy as a result of the DNA test, but no answers and maybe NEVER any answers. Anyway, I have subscribed again for six mo to Anc.com so we shall see. Between that, trying to shed all this ballast and looking for my next subject to paint... I am pretty busy. Oh, and the health issues and their attendant appointments continue too. We are well booked up into mid August.

SO, Dear Friends, I solemnly promise to TRY to do better here on my blog and hope to hear from you. Happy New Year all and God Bless!