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Contemplating Nature Close Up
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..
ORCHIDS
Original Watercolor
14 inches high x 14 inches wide
$150
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 painting--For ordering information, click here
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
DUSK THROUGH THE ICICLES
Original Watercolor
Framed 17"w x 28"
$500.00
In mid-winter, huge icicles hanging outside my window reflect the colors of the sunset.
Original painting--For ordering information, click here
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
LEAVES AND REFLECTIONS
Original Watercolor
Framed 30"w x 23"h
$950
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.
Original painting--For ordering information, click here
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
LUPINE
Reproduction
In New England, in June, fields are blue with patches of wild lupine. A close up of this favorite flower...
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
TRILOGIES
Original Watercolor
Framed: 24 inches high x 30 inches wide
$1000
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 painting--For ordering information, click here
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
DAFFODILS IN PROFUSION
Original Watercolor
Framed: 20 inches high x 16 inches wide
$300.00
Spring flowers contrasted against a dark blue sky. This painting appeared on the cover of KEARSAGE MAGAZINE, Spring 2007
Original painting--For ordering information, click here
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
AUTUMN BOUNTY
Original Watercolor
Framed: 16 inches high x 16 inches wide
$250
Mushrooms on the forest floor. A perfect subject for a nature close up.
Original painting--For ordering information, click here
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
LAST SONG OF SUMMER
Reproduction
A Magpie sits among fall foliage
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
PEONY GARDEN
Reproduction
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--For sizes and prices, click here
YELLOW LADY SLIPPERS
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.
Reproduction--For sizes and prices, click here
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