Wednesday, January 14, 2015

A perfect combo-Flowers and the finch.

Two of my favorites-the goldfinch and echinacea. My Mom had bird feeders all over the yard.  When I bought my house, I bought bird feeders galore and the two of us enjoyed many hours watching the feeders, looking up the birds in bird books, and keeping track of how many we saw each year. Although my Mom has been gone for more than twenty years now, I think of her when I watch the birds at the feeders. My mother-in-law was an avid gardener and introduced me to many new varieties of flowers to grow. I have been blessed with so many beautiful creations to enrich my life and enjoy and I love to share them through my art. Georgia O'Keeffe said she painted flowers really big because she felt people didn't stop to look closely enough and really enjoy them. Maybe there is a bit of her in me.
I tried to portray the subject matter fairly realistically and contrast it with a  dreamscape-like background. Since finches are tiny colorful birds, I painted this on an 8x8 canvas punching up the color a bit.