Poppies

"Poppies", oil on panel, 24X36

I actually painted this a while ago, but I have been thinking about it lately, so I thought I would post it. I have a friend from Israel and one day we were talking and I told her I wanted to paint a big painting of a field full of white lilies and that I would call it "Lilies of the Field", and she told me that in Israel, when someone says lilies of the field, they are referring to poppies, I had no idea. I still want to paint the white lily painting, but I am even more interested in poppies than I was before, and I want to explore them even more, especially in this new context.

update

I haven't blogged for a while, I have been so busy with this little one. She has been having a tough time and was hospitalized for a week at Primary Children's Hospital. I am so grateful for the great doctors we have been working with and for all the prayers and love and support from family and friends. This has been a difficult time, but I am confidant that we have the best possible care and that we are learning everything we can to help my sweet daughter.

Roses for Ruby

"Roses for Ruby"

15 X 15, oil on panel

This is a painting commission I just finished. I loved getting to paint it. The story of this painting actually started a long time ago, when I was a little girl.

Our next door neighbor was Ruby, and she had the most beautiful rose garden. All I have to do is think of her to remember the fragrant smell of her garden. I remember watching her tend her roses, she would invite me to smell each different rose and compare their scent, oftentimes, she would cut a rose for me to take home. She would trim the thorns so I wouldn't get hurt. I would carefully take it home and put it in a vase, or cup or jar and smell it over and over and touch the velvety petals and sing, "whenever I touch a velvet rose". When I think of roses, I think of Ruby.

I feel honored that more than 30 years later, for Ruby's birthday, her daughters commissioned me to paint roses for her. I have been so excited and happy today, on her birthday, wondering if she got the painting yet, and I imagine in my mind, her face, surprised and happy. I hope they remind her of that garden. I hope she knows that her kindness to a little girl was and still is so meaningful. I hope she knows that she taught me to see beauty and to appreciate the nuances of shape and color and smell. She helped my to really examine and enjoy flowers, and I am so grateful for that. Some of my greatest joy that I experience is because I learned to see like that. That is a big reason why I paint.

Thank you Ruby, and Happy Birthday.

Here is a photo of the painting in it's frame made by Rick Shorten. I think it is the perfect frame for this painting. I actually used a lot of gold paint in this painting- the sky has gold coming through the blue and there is also gold in the foliage. So, the photos look good, but seeing the original is even better.

Be nice to little kids. Let them see you love, and teach them to love.

The rewards only multiply.

Keys to Drawing

One of my favorite books ever is Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson. It is so universal, I reccomend it for all ages and stages of development as an artist. In fact, when I taught at U.V.U. I was constantly using it and when I taught at Kid's Village, I used it all the time too. It really is a great book.

I think it is full of great exercises that are explained very well and can be done at any age, parents with no art background can learn as they do the exercises with their children. Professional artists can use it to brush up on skills or just have fun and fill up sketchbooks. I love this book.

8 ply

Pink Roses, watercolor on paper (hot pressed)

When I frame my watercolors, I always use 8 ply mat board. I love it. It is twice as thick as typical mat board. I prefer a single white 8 ply mat about 4 inches wide and slightly weighted on the bottom. It is hard to find people who can cut it properly so I stick with Lee R Cowan (has his own shop) or Todd (at the BYU Bookstore). Lee cut this one for me. He is super fast, reasonable and has a great sense of aesthetic.

another favorite quote

“I must study politics and war, that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, natural history and naval architecture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, tapestry, and porcelain.”

-John Adams

What to do with your tulips now

The late tulips are still in bloom, I love having tulips in bloom for as much time as possible. So we have a great variety to ensure this, and we add to them every year. Late tulips that are planted in spots that don't get a lot of full sun are in their prime here right now. If you want to get some good late tulips, go to The Thanksgiving Point Garden Path Greenhouse right now and get some bulbs ($3.oo a dozen) and pick out the ones that are still attached to leaves and even still have a colorful bloom- if they are really fresh- you can even plant them right now)

Now that many of the tulips are no longer in bloom, there are some things you ought to be doing to get them ready for next year.

I was looking through my blog to see if I had addressed this already... and I had. I did last year. I had started "Be Still", but I only liked one part of the painting back then. Anyway, check out these tips to help you with your tulips.

pretzel

My friend came over the other night and was looking through some of my watercolors and fell in love with this one... which worked out perfectly because he happens to be an excellent framer, and he cuts my favorite mat board- 8-ply, so a trade was orchestrated.

I love a good trade!

clothesline

Last Thursday, Zion's Bank hosted an Art Reception, it was really fun, there were at least 30 different artists and about 4,500 people came to check it out. Many people told me they really liked this painting, I really like it too, so I thought I would post it here on my blog.

I painted this last September at The Spring City Plein Air Festival. Sanpete County is so beautiful, and there are so many places I wanted to paint, but I just had to paint this clothesline. I started out with a little acrylic, then drew on my panel with vine charcoal, then quickly moved into oil paint.

On this painting, I left a fair amount of the charcoal still exposed. I really enjoyed getting to be in Spring City and paint and for all the good company I had while I painted.

Here I am finishing it up with a palette knife.

One of favorite quotes about art

John Hafen is one of my favorite early Utah artists. He made many contributions to our State that we still enjoy today. It was the art donated by Hafen and Cyrus Dallin (sculptor of the Angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake Temple that started the Springville Art Museum. (which even has my art in it's permanent collection) John Hafen also painted murals in Temples for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was also one of his paintings that started the art collection at The B.Y.U. Museum of Art. He focused mainly on landscape painting and there are many great examples of his work throughout the state.

Hollyhocks by John Hafen

One of my favorite quotes regarding art also comes from John Hafen:

“The influence of art is so powerful in shaping our lives for a higher appreciation of the creations of our God that we cannot afford to neglect an acquaintance with it. We should be as eager for it's companionship in our homes as we are eager for chairs to sit upon, or for food to sustain our lives; for it has as important a mission in shaping our character and conducing to our happiness as anything we term necessities. Life is incomplete without Art.

A religious life is not an ideal religious life without it."

"Created For Greater Things" display at Deseret Book

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has a new book this spring, Created for Greater Things, it has been featured at Deseret Book during General Conference through Mother's Day. The Deseret Book Flagship store in downtown Salt Lake decided to feature my artwork along with Elder Holland's new book in a beautiful display. They had fresh flowers all month long, huge posters of Elder Holland's Book and hung some of my originals and some giclée prints, as well as a special deal on some small framed prints. They got it all set up in March and when Sheri Dew came in to see it, she bought the piece in the upper left corner herself (you can see it in the photo below. After she bought it, they got another just like it to replace it, then we sold it while I was there last week, so it is gone in the photo above)

I actually ended up having a baby the very day that this display was set up- so I didn't get to see it all done until last week- it is even more impressive than I thought. I feel really honored to have been included in such a beautiful display.

It was a really good day to be at Deseret Book, I met a lot of great people and signed a bunch of prints. I brought paint along to paint the fresh flowers- but I didn't get the chance, but I hope to still paint something from my photos and from the experience.

Free passes to The Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival

This week would be the perfect time to go!

The tulips are all blooming, the weather is warm, and you can even go for free!

My good friends at Thanksgiving Point gave me 2 passes to give away! To enter the giveaway just leave a comment here or on facebook, you can also add a link on your blog, share this post, follow my blog, blog about my blog... just leave a comment so I can enter you in the drawing for each thing you do.

The contest ends Thursday at midnight.

caring for cut tulips

I love having fresh tulips inside to enjoy. I love watching them bloom and grow (yes, tulips continue to grow even after they are cut- an inch or so is typical). I love to photograph them and paint them. This is a photo I took of a tulip I have been enjoying that I recently cut from our yard.

I often hear complaints about tulips just not lasting very long, especially cut tulips.

Tulip paintings and prints last super long... but so can your cut tulips, I have some great tips to help:

1. Select tulips that have a tight or nearly closed bloom.

2. Remove any green leaves that would be submerged in the water. The stems will also die back first- remove them as soon as they begin to wilt.

3. Trim the stem at an angle with sharp scissors or a knife (do this while the stem is wet and do not allow it to dry out before being put in the vase) Trim the stems a little more each day.

4. Change the water in your vase at least once a day. I like to use cold water, I even add ice chips sometimes. (tulips like to be cold- that is why they thrive in colder climates and early spring)

6. Display your tulips in a cool place free from direct sunlight or draft from the heater vent.

5. Put your tulips in the fridge at night (this will give them the same cold treatment they would get outside in the ground and it prolongs the life of the bloom) I know it sounds silly, but it will really make them last a lot longer.

I can keep tulips going inside for around 2 weeks using all of these tulip tips.

Oh, and one more tip: Because tulips grow after they are cut- they tend to conform to the shape of the vase and the stems become curvy. If you want to straighten them, you can wrap a few layers of damp newspaper around them for a few hours (keep them in the vase while you do this)

Enjoy your cut tulips!

2011 Tulip Festival Poster

This is the poster for The 2011 Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. (available in the garden gift shop)

I painted it last year in the children's garden.

I brought it back into my studio recently and made a couple of changes. I added the rainbow.

I think I'm calling it "Symbols of Promise" or " Symbols of Hope"

For the past several I have spent my spring days in the gardens at Thanksgiving Point enveloped in the beauty of the tulip festival painting and talking with the others who have also come to enjoy the beauty. Thousands upon thousands are drawn to the gardens to see the tulips.

Just as the rainbow is a symbol of promise, a symbol of hope, so are the tulips. People come because the hope and happiness that the tulips symbolize. The tulips awaken and bloom and beckon the rest of nature to dawn her colors. They symbolize hope and rebirth, an end of cold and beginning of warmth, an invitation to grow.

When will the tulips bloom?

There are many factors that contribute to when tulips bloom, like the weather, how much sun they get, how deep they are planted and what type of tulips they are.

There are actually thousands of different types of tulips, and they are broken down into 15 specific classifications. I am focusing on 3 basic variations for this post: early, middle, and late.

Early tulips generally bloom in late March to early April. They tend to be about 8 to 15 inches in height. Early tulips begin blooming while daffodils and crocus are still in bloom.

Middle tulips bloom 5 to 10 days after the early tulips and tend to be a little taller than the early ones, and a little hardier and more suited to cutting and bringing inside to enjoy.

Late tulips are truly elegant, they tend to have long sturdy stems and large blooms and include the parrot varieties. Many tulip festival patrons miss out on these beauties because they bloom so much later- 5 to 10 days more after the middle tulips, often blooming well into June and the crowds at the gardens tend to dramatically taper after the advertised days of the Tulip Festival have passed. The tulips are still there, just not the venders live music and such.

I hope this information is helpful in getting the most enjoyment out of tulip season this year, I still think a membership to the gardens is a great way to go and then go a few times so you get to see more varieties of tulips.