Contemplating Nature Close Up

Click on the arrow to view a slideshow of Nature Close Up paintings. To see a still image of a painting with more information about it, scroll down on this page.

These "Nature Close up" paintings are created as a direct response to the complexities of our environment.

Sometimes taking in everything in the surrounding landscape can be overwhelming, so I react by zeroing in on details. When I stop and admire the delicate coloring of a flower or a butterfly, maybe observe the behavior of an animal or bird, I become just a small part of a larger world, and my self-importance drifts away.

It is an easy transition moving from close observation to painting the objects I admire.

Over time, I have developed a "formula" for the "Nature Close Up" output: The painting is usually small, and there is a contrast between a vague, abstracted background and detailed focal point, which is the subject. The problems of the larger landscapes related to composition, representation of common objects such as water and trees with variety, and appropriate rendition of perspective, go away. Just the pure pleasure of working with wet-in-wet watercolor in the background, petals, or foliage, coupled with the idea that I can be as detailed as I want when I get to the subject provides the release I seek.

Maybe the nature paintings in this gallery will remind you of a stroll through a garden, or a hike in the woods..

Schoodic Point, Acadia National Park, Tide pool, tidepool, mussels, barnacles, kelp, sea creatures, paintings of sea creatures, seashore paintings, watercolor paintings

IN A TIDEPOOL

At Schoodic Point in Maine when the tide goes out, there are wonderful tidepools that you can peer through clear water to see. I painted this when we were volunteering for the SEA Program at Acadia National Park.

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 14" h x 14" w
Price: $210

Schoodic Point, Wildflowers, Seashore plants, Acadia National Park, watercolor paintings, JoAnn Pippin

POCKET GARDEN III

Another special environmental element at Schoodic Point is these "pocket gardens" that spring up among the rocks on the ledges. The dust from the granite helps them to start up
and survive. Acadia National Park is so special!

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 11" h x 11" w
Price: $180

ORCHIDS

I saw these lovely orchids among many others at the Selby Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. I just had to paint them close up, because of the many delicate colors and the wonderful root structure.

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 14" h x 14" w
Price: $150

Reproduction

DUSK THROUGH THE ICICLES

In mid-winter, huge icicles hanging
outside my window reflect the
colors of the sunset.

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 28" h x 17" w
Price: $500

Reproduction

LEAVES AND REFLECTIONS

Walking on a boardwalk through a swamp, you will see lush foliage, made even thicker by the reflections of each stem and leaf in the dark water. The Audubon Center near Fort Myers, Florida, is the location of this nature close up.

This painting won First Prize at Art in the Park in North Conway, New Hampshire, and was accepted for a National Watercolor Society exhibit.

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 23" h x 30" w
Price: $1050

Reproduction

LUPINE

In New England, in June, fields are blue with patches of wild lupine. A close up of this favorite flower...

Reproduction
Trilogies, flower painting, watercolor painting, JoAnn Pippin, paintings of flowers, Fine Art Reproduction

TRILOGIES

The composition of this watercolor painting features a set of 3 tomatoes, and two triangles that the eye wanders to as you observe the sunflowers and their foliage. Can you detect these elements?

This painting was accepted for several juried shows.

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 24" h x 30" w
Price: $950

Reproduction

DAFFODILS IN PROFUSION

Spring flowers contrasted against a dark blue sky. This painting appeared on the cover of KEARSAGE MAGAZINE, Spring 2007

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 20" h x 16" w
Price: $300

Reproduction

AUTUMN BOUNTY

Mushrooms on the forest floor. A perfect subject for a nature close up.

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 16" h x 16" w
Price: $250

Reproduction

LAST SONG OF SUMMER

A Magpie sits among fall foliage

Reproduction

PEONY GARDEN

The peony is a favorite flower of many gardeners. The Sarah Biddle Duke Garden in Chapel Hill, North Carolina features a huge mass of them in the right season, and I was inspired to do this nature close up after strolling through that garden with my grandkids.

Reproduction

YELLOW LADY SLIPPERS

Original Watercolor
14 inches high x 14 inches wide
$150

The lady slipper appears in the spring in the forests of New England. The most common is the pink lady slipper, but I spotted some yellow ones while hiking just east of Gorham, New Hampshire, and decided to paint the more unusual plant.

Later, I met an interesting woman at an art fair, who told me that the native Americans in this area used the yellow lady slipper for medicinal purposes related to heart disease. Her father had had many friends among the natives, and they had given him some plants which he planted, and she has them yet in her back yard.

Original Watercolor
Framed Size: 14" h x 14" w
Price: $150

Reproduction

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