Dahlias never fail to dazzle with their distinctive colours, smell, and bright fluffy opulent blooms.
Author: artbyeileen
I am a South African born artist, who has lived in 5 different countries in the last 20 years. I returned to South Africa in 2016 and I am now living in St Lucia, a small tropical village on the shores of the Indian Ocean. My rather unusual life experiences and travels have influenced my style and choice of subject matter. The rich desert colours, the vibrancy of the tropical flowers, all my paintings communicate my connection to the land and nature. Flowers are my main subject and I am inspired by layerings of colour, be it bright and ebullient, or understated and muted. Colour can evoke so many different responses in someone and my paintings speak to their viewer through their movement, colour and texture. Painting is my way of sharing the pleasure I derive from the beauty that surrounds me in nature and especially the flowers I so loves to paint. An ability to communicate all of this through granular sculptural textures, three dimensional application of paint and striking use of colour makes my art work bold and engaging.
I can definitely smell the Dahlias!
I love the smell of dahlias – it is like nothing else, with a slightly bitter note. This bowl of dahlias are inspired by the beautiful dahlias @adeneflowers, a flower and fruit farm in Wolseley about 120 km’s outside of Cape Town or an hour and a half drive. those pungent colours and their unique smell…
A new paint tool
My new silicone blade has been a great addition to my artists toy box. Ideal for moving large volumes of paint around on the canvas – works like a spatula Helps control the density of applied colour, or erase excess paint Can be used to create sharp edges, or help blend and soften edges It…
A rose bowl of memories
Flowers have been an integral part of my life and as a result my choice of subject matter and a recurring theme in my work. Even after exploring other subject matter such as landscapes, and portraiture I always returned to flowers, which are a constant in my life, and a continuous choice of subject to…
Periwinkle blue
Periwinkle blue is never one colour. It has such a variety in the blues and mauves and makes a beautiful ground cover that can flower throughout the year. I seem to be enjoying blues in flowers at the moment and all the varieties of blue on the colour scale from mauve, to cornflower blue, to…
You can never have enough flowers in a bucket
I think it is blatantly obvious I love painting flowers. In this bucket I placed the softest of pink blush roses, and in contrast to the soft tones of the roses I painted purple petunias, and periwinkles all the while exploring techniques for using the palette knife. 40 cm X 40 cm X 4 cm,…
A beautiful summers day
I often paint sunflowers. Their bright happy faces are irresistible and their bright yellow petals are the perfect shape for a palette knife to smear the bright yellow paint on in a happy frame around the burnt umber, almost black centres. Sunflowers symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity. Much of the meaning of sunflowers stems from its namesake, the…
Summer blues
At the rate I am painting I seem to be doing almost a painting a day! I wanted to create a bowl of flowers with a combination of delicate tendrils, and solid strong bold irises with rich purple centres, periwinkles and purple clematis. I used the black flower bowl my Mom has now given me…
Summer Christmas flowers
The hydrangea represents gratitude, grace and beauty. It also radiates abundance because of the lavish number of flowers and the generous round shape. Its colours symbolise love, harmony and peace. Known for their beautiful blooms and leafy foliage, hydrangeas are the epitome of summer. Growing up we lived in Newlands, and my Mom had the most incredible hydrangeas growing down the whole…
Flowers by the bucket
This is a large painting. 100 cm X 100 cm X 4 cm, acrylic on canvas mounted on a large square board. This painting was an experiment of techniques on how to create different types of flowers. I rather like how the bucket came out. I do think the background and the flowers are a…
Bowl of flowers
Not only are flowers beautiful additions to our homes, weddings and special events, they also have different meanings attached to them. Flower language – or floriography – is the art of flower symbolism, which varies depending on the type and colour of the flower. I love flowers, I love them in the garden, and especially in…
Moroccan pots masquerading as ginger jars
As an artist I have received some unusual commissions, my children being probably the main source of my more bizarre commissions. I have painted cupcakes for my daughter, Knights and Saracens on my son’s wall, headboards, and I think even a spaceship from my sons days playing Eve Online. Besides my children’s misuse of their…
