Personal Art Blog

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

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Peony Time




Peony Time
8"x 8" oil on canvas panel SOLD


Artist Note.
Cherries and Peonies,
what could be more classic than that?

I always remember what 
Ovanes Berberian
told me...
Paint in  the NOW and not in
the ways of the past.

So did he mean the brown type
or dark backgrounds?
He certainly has never done 
one remotely like a Chardin,
The Dutch School or Rembrandt.

He was true to his beliefs
and I love his colors...but I wanted 
a dark cloth behind these peonies
so
I added the
 non-traditional striped cloth.
I think it gives it a little more
of a contemporary flair.

Going to have a "packing" weekend.
This is just so we empty
the house of too much "stuff"
to get it ready to show.
My studio will take at least a week to tidy up.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

27 comments:

  1. You always capture the lushness of those Peonies. This year I had only two bloom again and they died because of heavy rains before I could even go photograph them. Peonies and I just don't seem to get along. LOL Careful packing; no injuries. I know just how little it takes to do damage to our delicate bodies.

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    1. The rains killed them everywhere this year so nothing you did, my dear. Thanks for that recipe on your blog. Off to get shrimp on the way home from work.

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  2. You know I love peonies! This beautiful but my eye went straight to the vase. I wanted to run my hands over it and could almost feel it's smooth surface. So where are you going to move to?

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    1. That's a favorite vase and has been painted many times. It is by an artist in Japan and the glazes are to die for. Happy you like it.
      Going to downsize in town. Have to get the house ready for showing and that means pack and store. The realtor appeared to like the house look "Staged" or that is the word I kept hearing.
      Thanks for the visit, Sharon.

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  3. Ovanes really offers the best advice!

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    1. He really does, Bruce. I took wonderful notes in a book and the covers are tripled taped from the years of referring to his words of wisdom...Julie, think Beeeautiful color!

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  4. Winner...now go pack! Meanwhile, I'll have a cup of tea and think about you.

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    1. LOL...great one, Blanche, but while you are having that cuppa think about jumping in the car and coming and helping me! Too far? Okay, you are off the hook.
      Thanks for the fun.

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  5. This is gloriously lush and every component is a gem: the blowsy blooms, the deep blue vase, and the gold-rimmed little bowl of deepest red cherries, all happily nestled on a cheeky striped cloth. Delightful!
    Perhaps Berberian meant that we should learn from the masters, but never merely echo them. That we should paint as ourselves and of our time. You certainly manage to do both, Julie. Your work is both classical and contemporary. You always achieve an energetic freshness, probably due in part to your fracturing technique -- but mostly just being YOU, I suspect! Happy packing!

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    1. I am in love with your description...cheeky little cloth! That is perfect. You are always so clever with your words as well as brush. I like what you said regarding copying. Art school had us copying but Ovanes was a colorist in the respect that he never used earth colors - they were all mixed. We were outside painting in the orchard and this poor woman painted a dark background and I thought he would pass out...he had her looking for that color in or around her set-up. That's when he got us all together and told us we didn't live with candlelight...like Rembrandt etc. Paint the now!
      Thanak you for the wonderful comment, dear chum.

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  6. lovely :D very nice vibrant blue! :D

    and art "rules" are meant to be broken. we wouldn't have near as many classic famous paintings if the "rules" were not broken. (of course a person should learn the rules first and then break them :p)

    ugh packing :/ I need to clean my studio but it will have to wait since I broke 2 toes lol meh means I can sit on my butt and make more art :p and mess lol

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    1. Oh, NO, two broken toes. I am so sorry. Even though you make light of it I know what a total bummer that must be for you.
      Hope they heal fast and are not painful or slow you down for too long.
      Great comment and Frances Bacon comes to mind as a perfect example of your point. I was at art school when I fist saw his work and still remember my eyes popping out of my head.
      Thanks, as always, for the visit.

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    2. thanks :) I just taped them up and have to stop falling hitting things with them :p

      ah Bacon, an artist to like or hate lol I'm on the fence with him, some work I really like, other stuff... well I can see it has merit lol :)

      seeing all this painting work wants me to paint something really badly lol but no room in the studio :p

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  7. "Peony time" is my favorite time when I visit your blog, Julie. A gorgeous piece!!

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    1. Thanks so much, Chris.
      The horse portrait you did has such wonderful movement in it. You must know them intimately to do such a good job.

      I want to ask you if you have any hints on cleaning out stuff and packing? You have done it and sounded like you may be doing it again. It has been 16 years for me and we are majorly downsizing.

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  8. A beautiful painting Julie. peonies always make good still life paintings and I can see why it was sold! Congratulations!!! Don't clean your studio too much...let everyone see the works of a real Artist.

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    1. Thanks Hilda - The realtor wants it cleaned up as much as possible.
      It is going to be one heck of a studio sale!

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  9. I love how you did the tight, compact petals of the peonies with just the suggestion of the petals. The dark centers pick up the color of the cherries, and the vase picks up the colors of the cloth. This is so well done. Take care packing and don't overdo it!

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    1. It is always an honor when an artist notices the little things and takes the time to let pass it on. Thank you, Joan.
      What about the jet lag you never seem to get, coming back from a different time zone. Did you miss a beat at all? Love your new paintings. The sunflowers are so loose and glowing.
      So what was the main thing you learned from all the workshops at the conference?

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    2. Thanks, Julie.
      The hour time difference didn't faze me at all. I'll be doing Australia next year...and that scares me. lol
      I think that what I learned is that there are so many different ways to visualize and sketch a scene. No one technique is the perfect one, but having taken the workshops with several different artists that I admire I can see myself pulled a bit in one direction or another when I see a scene. I know I can use a different technique if it fits the subject that that's OK too.

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  10. With your technique the dark background still has a lot of movement, and I love the way you incorporate some of the colors from the still life in there. My eye is interested in every inch of the painting.
    Moving is always a great opportunity to get rid of the clutter we tend to accumulate.I hope you manage to do it all quickly!

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  11. Thanks Celia - and I am still emoting for the lavender plate in the new still life. Love the way you painted the pears but, oh, that plate!!!!

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  12. I love the almost overlooked cherries, as one escapes. Cloth and vase share a relationship as do the cherry bowl and background. My eye is drawn around the painting and is delighted by the little posy in the foreground that adds so much to the overall. The peonies look on in splendor from a JFO hallmark blue vase.

    Eh Up lass, I'm back, albeit the only paint I've used in months is a coat of primer on my boat. Thanks for the comment on the boat blog - I was sure I'd be forgotten.

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  13. Oh! Peonies! Be still my heart!
    So beautiful, Julie, and I agree that the striped cloth adds a rebellious touch! I always feel like I'm in a dream world when I see your work! It comes alive and has a mystery quality about it that allows me to add my own thinking to it. Rather than looking AT them, your paintings take me INTO them.

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  14. Exotic Julie! The cherries in the gold rimmed bowl against the blue striped cloth is a little composition by itself in the corner.

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  15. Beautiful painting. Fantastic technique. I love the colour pick-ups in the background and the gold rim of the bowl is so effective. What colours did you use, if you've time...?

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Cheers,
Julie