Personal Art Blog

Sharing the lessons I teach at the Artist Guild and the personal discoveries in my art.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Lily Pond at Capistrano.



Lily Pond At Capistrano.
8x6in oil on canvas panel  $150
Purchase HERE

Artist Note

Last week a member of the 
Artists Guild
visited 
 Mission San Juan Capistrano 
and sent me some 
amazing
Lily Pond photos. 

I cannot wait to paint some more
of them

When I lived in Southern California
I visited there many times -
(every time we had visitors!)
and have a book of watercolor 
sketches recording many a view.
Now, if only I can find it...
It is 5 houses ago!



28 comments:

  1. You lead us through the painting so beautifully. Love the lily pond.......

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    1. You should see the beautiful photos I got. Very inspiring. Can't do it justice with paint, but the enjoyment of painting this it what feeds the soul.
      Your tree painting has such glorious colors, Helen. I bet it fed your soul too!

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  2. The mission is a lovely backdrop to the water lilies. Beautiful!!

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    1. I kind of fudged the background... bringing the arches closer than what they actually are to the waters edge, but that's artistic license isn't it? I loved the whole environment of mission and pong and wanted to show them together.
      Do you do changes to fit what you feel about a place, Joan?

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    2. I think most of us rearrange things slightly to get a better composition and to bring those parts that we think are most important to the painting.

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  3. Bonjour chère July,

    J'imagine votre empressement à peindre un lieu aussi magique avec ces nénuphars !
    Le joie se fait ressentir lorsqu'on admire cette très belle peinture.
    L'architecture du bâtiment apporte une belle profondeur à votre oeuvre. Vos couleurs sont vivifiantes. Bravo l'artiste !

    Gros bisous ♡

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Martine. This Capistrano mission is very special and visited by millions each year. The lily pond is enormous and has many different colors of lilies. Stunning.
      Your new painting with the butterflies is colorful and so appealing. Pastels come alive with your lyrical touch.

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    2. Un grand merci Julie pour vote gentil commentaire... En réponse à votre question, non ce n'est pas moi la jeune femme qui se trouvait dans la galerie où étaient exposées mes peintures, mais ma meilleure amie qui vit aux Philippines et qui avait eu la gentillesse de me rendre visite.

      Gros bisous ☼

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  4. This one is pretty! A lily pond in front of a mission seems kind of interesting too. I wouldn't have put those two things together bu I like the combo. Now go dig up those sketch books!

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    1. Hi Libby - I gather you have never visited this mission. Still very much Spanish in influence with the most beautiful lush gardens you can imagine. The lily pond is huge and there is a pathway between the plantings along the arched walkway and the pond. I lowered the eye level so the path disappeared. The missions are here in New Mexico also - coming up from Mexico following the Camino Real. Our climate doesn't support the lush gardens like California's climate does. The building are quite wonderful though.
      Thanks for the visit, Libby.

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    2. Julie-

      Thanks for that info. I shouldn't be surprised I guess. The only mission I think I have visited was down on our central coast and was in a state of repair/disrepair. No pond or beautiful gardens! I do love this type of architecture though and can imagine that beautiful gardens would enhance it. And I imagine that New Mexico would have a completely different set of plants/flowers. Water and soil and air are everything!
      Lib

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  5. Love the vertical with the horizontal! Your painting is dynamic!

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    1. There is a whole row of arches and in the photo reference there was 5. Too many for the close up I wanted. Pleased you like it thanks, Kaethe.

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  6. So much beauty in such a small space. Love the background as much as the foreground.

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    1. Interesting you should say that, Sharon. I really enjoyed painting the arches and the space between them. Intend to do more - when I find my sketch books.

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  7. Replies
    1. Thanks Myra and fabulous colors on the legs in your painting.

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  8. I'm really led into the painting by your strategic placement of lily pads, Julie. The white flowers pick me up from there and take me all the way to the doorway under that beautiful arch! Very appealing textures!

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    1. I used a palette knife for most of this one so thats the texture you see, Carol.
      Nice to know you have been to the Mission trail.
      It is WONDERFUL to see you posting again and the colors in your new pastel
      vibrate beautifully next to the creamy cloth.

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  9. I'm always amazed at how much you succeed in putting into a small painting without it ever getting cluttered ...and getting so much detail too ! Like Helen said, you lead us through the painting beautifully !

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    1. LOL - small paintings!
      when I first started painting small daily paintings I thought I would lose my mind. So much easier to paint large. Now I find it easier and the detail is usually implied more than tightly worked on.
      I think you have discovered something with your amazing new abstracts. Hope you do more.

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  10. ah thought this had a bit of a lovely Spanish look to it, looking up info on the mission helped :)

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    1. Pleased you looked it up. Pretty spectacular - right? The Spanish brought the old world charm with them as well as some unflattering behavior patterns. Can't talk - being British I went around apologizing for the past behaviors in many a place I have visited.
      Fascinated by your engraving of the owl. No end to your talents.

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  11. Love the way color leads you through the painting.

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    1. We both love color don't we, Blanche? Waiting to see more of yours.

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  12. wow! Beautiful light. love this painting and all others from your lily pond series

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  13. You've done a great job of taking us back into the view. The arches are a dark, but not too dark value and rendered so softly. I love the color of the stucco, that pink is just the right description for those columns!

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  14. Oh Julie, this is gorgeous! So much atmosphere and sunshine! I love all your water lily and koi paintings - actually all your paintings full stop!! (or period for those of you in the US!:))

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I love that you are taking the time to comment and thank you for it. I am sure other readers will enjoy them too. If you cannot comment through this format then email me at juliefordoliver@gmail.com
Cheers,
Julie