Sweetpeas are gorgeous flowers, obligingly abundant, and wonderfully fragrant with the most seductive scent. Some are more acutely fragrant than others with an intense, rich perfume. Traditionally, it’s the heirloom Grandiflora-type sweet peas that have been grown for their fragrance. If one had to capture the airy sweetness of the sweet peas, I think it would smell somewhere between orange blossom and…
Tag: paletteknife
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 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…
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…
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…
Miniatures
A collection of miniatures between painting larger works Ginger jars Magnolias
Passionate about poppies
Poppies Acrylic on canvas 30 cm X 40 cm Poppies are bright, cheerful, and colourful with crinkly paper thin petals. Sadly they never last very long in a vase as cut flowers. There is always a tumble of petals and a dusting of pollen at the base of a vase of poppies, it’s their fleeting…
A lilac cascade
This particular painting is a multi layered canvas with layers of mixed medium being applied before i began painting. In the above image you can see the modelling paste that had been smeared on with a broad palette knife. This has dried a white colour and almost sits into the canvas. The yellowish gel is…
Summer is here
Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface in very thick layers, usually thick enough that the brush or palette knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides texture; the paint appears to be coming out of the canvas. Acrylic…
All things painterly…
The last while I have been trying to force myself to loosen my painting style and move in a more painterly direction. I started using a combination of palette knives and colour shapers together with a brush to force myself to stop worrying about keeping things inside the lines. Rather than relax my brushwork I…
artbyeileen 