Painting Magnolias

We have a lovely Magnolia tree in our front yard that is so inspiring and gorgeous when it blooms. I find it hard to walk by without stopping to take at least a few photos of it. When it bloomed again this past Spring I had to finally paint it!

Small 6" x 12" Magnolia "Gentle Beauty" (available)

Close up of "Gentle Beauty"

 Using one of my photos as reference, I first painted only the small 6" x 12" version.

Small Magnolia in process

 I ended up loving it so much that I had to paint a larger version. I already had a 15 x 30 gallery-wrapped canvas (the perfect size for this!) prepped and ready to go! I wanted to make it similar, yet different enough and I had fun stretching myself to achieve this.

Large Magnolia painting 15" x 30" (sold)

Close up of large Magnolia

Close up of some of the great texture on large version

I added plenty of texture on the larger one because... well... I'm a texture junkie!

I love how both pieces turned out and can't pick a favorite between the two. Not a bad problem to have, right?

  

Large Magnolia in progress. Notice my photo at the top of the easel that I used for reference

I can't wait until the tree blooms again. I'm sure there will be plenty more picture taking and more Magnolia paintings too. What a blessing to have this inspiration right in front of our house... which means I can also see it from our kitchen window. Can you blame me for being a bit bloom crazy?

Our Magnolia tree back in March

Mixed Media Lotus Minis

Ok, back to showing you more from the 30 Paintings in 30 Days I did last year. This piece above, "Content" is number SIX. I had actually worked on another piece that night for hours but it was not cooperating. Or I wasn't. Either way I wanted to toss it to the coyotes. I gave up and cleaned up because it was late, and I was tired. I was bummed that I didn't finish one. As I was cleaning up I saw my little 4"x4" canvases. I grabbed one and went for it. I returned to a favorite subject and colors and the next thing I know this lil' happy piece was done! Yay! I felt so much better!

This next one, "Transparent",  is number SEVEN. I was trying out different colors than I normally use and a different style. I like how it turned out!

"Absorb" is number EIGHT. Absorb and learn what you need to from this beautiful life so you can nurture yourself and those who surround you.

These were all done in a similar way. I started by glueing down antique French book pages then painting and drawing over them. On this last one above I also glued down blue hand-painted paper and a strip of natural fiber. 

Ok, you know what... even though it's not part of the 30in30, I'm going to add one more mixed media lotus to this post because it was done around the same time and has a similar feel.

This is "Silent Beauty", because often silence can be a beautiful thing. 

Ok, that's enough for now. These are all done on small 4" x 4" x 1.5" gallery-wrapped canvases and are all available for purchase.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a creative day!

xoE