A new mini. A damselfly perched on a yellow waterlily also called “spadderdock” and a lot of other names. These flowers are not as classically lovely as the white waterlilies that I also grew up with, but there’s something fascinating about these intensely yellow blooms. I also enjoyed a relatively simple colour palette for a change!
(C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
This one was painted en plein air out on our deck on this lovely sunny Victoria Day long weekend. It took two afternoon sessions because of the larger than usual canvas and the quickly changing light. Luckily, it was sunny both Saturday and Sunday so I was able to continue in very similar conditions. I decided to really abstract the background elements – both the slatted table the vase was sitting on and the forest and sky beyond are represented by playing around in value tones. With the bouquet itself, I had a lot fun deciding which elements to pull out in some detail and which to make more suggestive. A very pleasant way to spend some time with the scent of lilacs wafting by…
(C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
Having fun with bright colours and bold shapes …and it turned into a bouquet in a polka dotted vase. Sometimes it’s important to not plan too much and just see what happens.
(C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
I was playing Karl Jenkins “The Peacemakers” while painting this one …thinking about the world situation but wanting to have some hope for peace. Out of the darkness, new growth and blossoms that overcome the tangle of the thicket with their beauty.
Dona nobis pacem.
(C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
Playing with colour! Warm and cool… and complementary orange and blue. As I painted, the idea of a garden started taking shape – leaf textures and floral forms. Maybe that’s a pond in the upper right. I like the feeling of this piece – calm but full of life. Looking forward to the buds in my garden showing their faces…
(C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
This mini was based on a photo I took visiting my parent’s home last summer. The flowers were blooming and everything was alive with pollinators of all kinds. I kind of felt that this butterfly was looking a bit askance at me but I decided it was just shy. 🙂
(C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
A perhaps even more whimsical variation on the sky flowers theme. Here the reflections of roses in the water are more like roses than the clouds are. I was trying to capture that colour in the sky when blue is just starting to fade into yellow without being really green! As with most of this series, there is a dream-like quality to the vision.
(C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
Continuing to feel the need for a feeling of summer sunshine and warmth. This local tri-colour bumble bee is enjoying the pollen of the blackberry blossoms. Blackberries are a bit controversial here because the (now) most common variety is a non-native invasive species …but sooo delicious. The native wild ones are even better – when I can find them!
image (C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
While I am working on some larger ongoing pieces, I thought I would continue painting some minis. Sometimes, I need to let the larger paintings sit – to dry a bit before adding more layers but also to let them percolate before I go full steam ahead and obliterate things that I may actually want to keep. I can be impulsive that way. 😉
Anyway, this mini is inspired by a meadow full of wild flowers and humming with bees that I visited while in Ontario this past summer.
image (C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
The last mini of this set of 8. I decided to paint a bumblebee as a change from hummingbirds. He’s head down getting all the pollen!
image (C) 2022 Hilary Farmer
Green Tea Doodles 