White Petunias

Finally a different colour scheme to break away from the reds. Lots of flowers in the garden means some get to be displayed inside, creating wonderful subjects to paint.

Petunias are one of the easiest flowers to grow, and have been around in our garden for years. But it is only now that I have the time to enjoy them so completely.

The wonderful April showers will only bring more flowers. So don't be surprised if a lot of florals get featured here. Now am thinking of a companion piece for this one. What say?

Luscious Trio

On a recent trip to the supermarket, we picked up a box of juicy red strawberries. But look where the luscious berries landed...

Plonk in the middle of a painting! Didn't know they'd make such a great subject.

This happens to be the last of the 'reds'. Well, for now at least. It is a different matter that a garden bursting with red amaryllis can't really keep my mind off that colour for very long!

Orange Can Hibiscus

Summers are here, and how! The warm air has shaken up our hibiscus plants from their hibernating slumber, and they are sprouting forth loads of bright red blossoms everyday.

Put a couple of them on the wash basin in an orange Fanta can to enliven the area. Here's a close-up of the resultant painting.

Apologies for the strange title but sometimes the 'wordy' part of my brain takes a vacation. Especially when I'm having such fun playing with colours. The swirling shades in front of me make words almost redundant.

Painting a few more using the reds. Sometimes one gets stuck on a colour.... or maybe because it is Easter weekend approaching. Is there a connection?

Red Poppies

One of my favourite flowers is back again. This time in a smaller size - 7" x 5" approx. As per the plan, we grew poppies in our garden this year, and they added a fabulous dash of colour to the spring blooms.

I loved painting them, of course. Having them right before your eyes gives you so many chances to observe them really up close. What I like about this piece is that despite using acrylics, I managed a flowy watercolour feel to it.

After working on bottles through most of the month, this painting served as a breather. It is time now for new beginnings on the home-front as the kiddos start new classes next week. Once they are back to school, I'll hopefully have more time to paint. Here's wishing you all a fun weekend, as I zoom off to enjoy mine! :)

Update and Sneak Preview

Status updates are all I got time for this last week. Hope that explains the "Bottles, bottles everywhere!" on the Creative Rumblings FB page. Loads of work on my hands, and a work table strewn with bottles and paints, as you can see in the picture below.

I'm busy working on multiple commissions, and totally loving it. Thinking up new designs, reworking some old ones, rushing off to buy more paints.... all adds up to a handful indeed! Once I'm finished I promise to share all the good stuff.

Till then, here is a sneak preview of my current work. Hope you like it!

Floral Mesh

A hectic week, Holi festivities, and the kids' exams have all conspired to keep me away from the beloved blog. Not that I'm complaining, especially not about the 'hectic' bit. The city is awash in the colours of Spring and I was lucky enough to catch a flower show, and a couple of visits to parks. Essential to charge my creative batteries! All those blooms give me enough fodder to last through the dry summers. So don't be surprised if you see me painting a lot of florals in the coming weeks.

I don't know the name of these pretty pink blossoms but I remember seeing a tree laden with them in early winters. Not a leaf in sight, just a floral mesh against the clear blue sky. Have just tried to capture that scene in this painting. Hope I'm able to bring out that effect.

Green Peppers, and Other Struggles

With my FB page not sync-ing with my blog updates, Blogger randomly changing server names, and what not, I've been going over the edge. Then with no responses to my teaser sketches, I almost believed I had done a bad job of them. But seeing how the paintings based on them have turned out, I feel better.

Wonder why your comments, suggestions and responses have all but dried up. Sometimes it gets difficult to keep the tempo going when you are speaking to a wall. :-|

Anyhow, going back to my second quick painting this week. What I loved most about doing this one was the colour mixing. I have now got some hang of what all to mix to get the right shades - using just the primary colours, and black or white.

Moreover, these capsicums, or green peppers, are quite an improvement on the ones I had done last summer. Happy to see some progression in my own work!