It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived. Helen Walton

Friday, May 26, 2017

Playing with gesso

The past ten days, I have focused on my plants.
We had a wonderful trip down to Homestead, FL to the Redland Orchid Festival.
It is a long drive but it is SO worth it.
We always enjoy driving through the Florida Everglades.  One year the bromeliads were
blooming in the trees and it was quite spectacular.
I only purchased one orchid and some supplies, but totally enjoyed each of the booths
from all over the world, each with it's own selection of plants.
So my art this week is a happy accident.
I always use gesso to prepare my watercolor paper for the paint.  More and more,
I am using a second layer of texture to add more interest to the painting.
Often because of all of the color, the texture is lost.
So this week I tried something different.


I only used a couple of shades of red.  It has two coats of paint.
The first layer had bits of color added here and there (Mexican Serape colors)
but I didn't like the additional color so did a second coat of light and dark red.

Look at this little beauty.  My husband treated himself to the bromeliad this week.
The bud was the solid pink and then today these little purple flowers appeared.
Quite spectacular.


Happy news, the dendrobiums are blooming again.  
Wishing you all a happy PPF and thank you to Kristin and Eva.

11 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

I love the red swirl, it has great depth and texture. Beautiful flowers, too. I am happy with my petunias and lupins here. Happy PPF, hugs, Valerie

sirkkis said...

Beautiful layerings of colours.
Lovely flowers indeed
Happy weekend ❤

Linda Kunsman said...

Love that red:) And the orchid-spectacular!

Faye said...

Beautiful red piece of art. How wonderful to live near enough to see these exotic flowers growing in nature.

denthe said...

It looks like a rose to me, a beautiful deep red rose.... The colours of that bromeliad are amazing!

Serena Lewis said...

Lovely red rose, Susan! Bromeliads have such spectacular flowers.

Happy PPF!

Gillena Cox said...

Your painting looks like a rose twirled, luv the shades of red you ended up with

Happy PPF

much love...

DVArtist said...

I am so in love with this red painting. My favorite color. The flowers are amazing too.

Giggles said...

Gorgeous painting and wow on those flowers... amazing!! I understand how he couldn't resist!!

Hugs Giggles

Laney said...

Red is my favorite color so I do love your red painting! Great texture. Beautiful plants as well. Happy PPF (late)! :)

Sue (this n that) said...

I agree with others, it looks like a rose to me, all that beautiful texture and swirl - gorgeous!
The bromeliad is wonderful, I've a real soft spot for those plants and this is so pretty.