Gerbera Daisy

I have been thinking about Gerbera Daisies lately. This is a painting I did a while ago, but I have always loved it and so I thought I would share it here. It is acrylic on illustration board.

The tulips are pretty much gone

Unless you have a tulip painting. Those last really long. If you don't have a tulip painting or print, I can help you out.

But if you do have tulips in your yard, they should pretty much be gone, and I can help you out with those too.

You should ideally "deadhead", or trim the stems of the tulips in your garden. The seedpod in the above photo is not desirable, why, because it is robbing the bulb of valuable nutrients. If you have any tulips left in this state, go ahead and give them a trim. Allow the leaves to die back and then be careful not to saturate the beds they are planted in with too much water (this can cause rotting) Some people will go ahead and pull up the bulbs and allow them to dry then replant them in the fall.

At Thanksgiving Point, they actually pull out all their tulips every year and then sell them for $3.00 a dozen! They plant over 250,000 every year, and there are still tulips available this year. You can purchase them at the greenhouse in the gardens. They are all mixed, so you won't know just what you are getting, but then it is so fun to wait and see in the spring! (if you get them all from the same bins, they will probably be a lot of the same tulips) When you get home, get them out of the plastic bags and allow them to dry, if the greens are still attached, allow them to dry until they get brittle and you can snap them off. The next step is to go buy a 3 pack of queen size panty hose, then fill them up with your bulbs and hang them up somewhere dark, cool and dry (67 degrees is perfect) a basement cellar is a great place, garages get too hot and too cold.

Then the first or second week of October, pull them out and plant them!

In the spring you will be so happy that you did it!

red watercolor tulips

This is one of my favorites. The original is hanging in one of my favorite friend's home. Luckily, it is still available as a print! I have lithographs that will be for sale at The Orem Summerfest along with many other great prints. We have many already framed and ready for your walls. There will be so many fun things going on at the festival, check out the link for more details... and don't miss Arts in the Park!

pink and white tulips

I had an exhibit of paintings I have done over the years at The Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival this year. This is one of the paintings from that exhibit. I love looking at the paintings I have done there and remembering painting each one, I love to remember just being there surrounded by tulips, and all the kind people who have stopped to admire my paintings and ask questions. People sometimes apologize for interrupting me when I am painting, but I honestly love it, it doesn't interrupt me, it enriches my painting experience.

Red tulips under Timp

There is this spot, at the bottom of Shepherd's Path, where you can see Timpanogos perfectly. They have flower beds that are always planted and if you lay down on the grass, you can see the flowers and the mountain getting closer together. I don't know if I have ever passed this spot with out laying down just to enjoy this great view. I don't lay down when I paint there, but I paint it as if I were ... and I paint there often.

enjoy your new home little painting

People often ask me if it is hard to let a painting go, and to be completely honest, it is.

But I really enjoy getting to share something so personal, and I love that others feel joy when they look at my paintings, I am grateful to have my paintings invited into homes, I think that is very personal too... and I am honored.

Here I am painting this painting last year at the Tulip Festival (pregnant :)

Los Tulipanes

I love this painting. It is 4 feet by 4 feet. I named it "Los Tulipanes" because that is spanish for, "the tulips". I have exhausted many titles that may be appropriate for paintings of red tulips. The original is hanging in The Utah State Capitol (on loan), it is part of The Springville Museum of Art's permanent collection. I'll make you a giclée in any size you want, on canvas or paper. I'll recommend that you get it full size on canvas... that's what I'm getting for myself.

Painting in The Parterre Garden

The Parterre Garden is so beautiful right now! I started this painting last night- I was hoping to finish today- but it has gotten chilly all of a sudden! Such is the life of the tulip painter!

The 2010 Tulip Festival poster

This is the 2010 Thansgiving Point Tulip Festival poster, for sale at the garden gift shop. It is 11 X 17 on card stock. I think it turned out really cute... and you can't beat the price! Come find me at the gardens and I will be happy to sign yours.

I painted this in the Secret Garden, it is called "Cherub's Secrets"

click here to see me painting it

Painting in The Children's Garden

On Tuesday, I found myself in the Children's Garden painting, it is such a wonderful place. The gardens are beautiful, there are mazes made of shrubs, a pond, a bear cave, dozens of bronze animals and they all have footprints in the concrete that lead back to an incredible sculpture of Noah's Ark. (As it gets warmer, there are fun water features in the garden for children to play in) I found the perfect place to sit, so that there are tulips in the foreground, and Noah and his Ark in the background- I am really excited about this painting!

My daughter stopped by for a minute to offer her help with my painting- then quickly went back to play in the big sandbox in the garden.

Yellow, Purple and Ruby

Another great day at the Tulip Festival. A man asked me, "Which do you love more, the thing you are looking at or the thing you are holding?" I replied, "The one in my arms, but how lovely it is to have both."

Painting at the Tulip Festival last Saturday

The above photo ran in the Salt Lake Tribune (photo by Jim Urquhart)

The Tulip Festival started last Friday. It is truly beautiful out there. Saturday was a wonderful day, the weather was great and there are so many tulips. I made it into yesterday's Daily Herald and The Salt Lake Tribune. I had a great time painting, and I am so excited to get out there and paint today.

Spring is in the air!

The daffodils are up, and the tulips are not far behind! I am so excited about the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival this year! It starts this Friday (this year they will kick things off with a live broadcast from Fox 13 with Big Budah - my segment with him will be at 8 am)

I think this will be one of the best festivals yet!

If you would like to tip toe/run through the gardens, they are having a half marathon and kids run this year!

A closer look at my painting process

I don't always use the same approach when I paint, I like to experiment, but here is a closer look at one of the variations I love to use. First, I apply paint in a bold and fairly abstract manner... (my subject: the patch of tulips in the distance, just to the left of my easel)

... next, I'll get out a piece of vine charcoal and draw on my painting, tightening it up a bit. I fix that drawing on (with fixative or hair spray) then I continue with oil paint, but still allow the process to come through (I let some of that first more abstract paint to show through as well as the charcoal drawing)

and here is the finished painting.

In a couple of weeks, scenes like this will be plenty!

The Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival begins April 16th and goes through May 1st.

I will have an exhibit there of paintings I have produced in the gardens during the festival over the past 5 years.

People always ask me when the best time would be to come, I recommend getting a membership and coming as many times as you can.

The tulips are coming up!

Yesterday we went out to Thanksgiving Point, and the tulips will definitely be in full bloom for the Tulip Festival this year. I am definitely getting excited!

(This is the finished painting of The Italian Garden from a couple posts ago.)