A Very Special Painting

When I received the message on Facebook this past summer, I remember reading it with my hand over my heart. Andra introduced herself as the mother of a little girl who had recently died of cancer, a day before her sixth birthday. She wondered if I would do a painting in memory of her daughter.

My initial reaction was that I couldn’t possibly do it. It seemed so sad. I thought that doing the painting would make me feel sad. Then I reread her message.

The girl she was describing was a joyous and happy person. Andra listed the colors she liked best: pink, red, yellow, light blue and green. She told me how Helen loved flowers, ladybugs, rolly-pollies, butterflies, birds, the beach and sea creatures. She said that she wanted the painting to include Helen’s name as well as some of her loves.

I realized that this was a very happy painting she was describing.  Helen enjoyed so many of the same things that I do. She was someone who loved nature and who thoroughly appreciated the world around her. The list of Helen’s likes included many of the things I love to paint the most.

I wrote back to Andra and, over a series of emails, we came to an agreement that I would do a painting for Helen. She wanted a painting that was larger than I usually do. After much thought, I committed to doing a 16 x 20 inch watercolour.

Andra was lovely throughout the process. She left the visual side of the painting entirely up to me. I showed her the initial rough sketch I had come up with and then she very, very patiently waited to see the final version. The painting took me several weeks to complete.

My initial rough sketch when I was trying to figure out the contents and composition.

I started by painting the banner and then began adding all of the other elements.

Slowly but surely, I added all of the creatures and flowers.

With most of main elements in place, I started to pull the sky down and behind the flowers.

This watercolour was an absolute joy to work on but it also was a lot of work. Its size, the number of things it included made it one of the most complex paintings I have worked on in a very long while. The detailed sketch alone took me two days. I don’t generally do detailed sketches but this painting required it. By the time I finished the painting, I realized I had looked at almost 50 reference photos in order to be sure that I was being true to all of the creatures and flowers I had included. In my research, I even found a flower that is called ‘Helen’s Flower’ (Helenium). It’s the yellow flower on the left and right (visible in the full view of the painting). The shell, sea urchin and starfish were all from my seashell collection. Some of my garden flowers were used as models.

A detail from the centre of the painting

Details from the bottom of the painting - A snail, mushrooms, a heart-shaped rock and three rollie-pollies playing together on the rocks at the right hand side.

It was so important to me to create something that was not just a good painting but something that was appropriate to and worthy of Helen’s memory. I wanted to create a painting that Helen would have loved.

Do you want to know something? I didn’t feel sad once while working on this painting. I felt happy. As I was working on it, I found myself thinking ‘Wouldn’t it have been nice to have met Helen and then I realized I did. I had met Helen “through” my painting.

After I sent photos of the completed painting to Andra, she responded within minutes:  “Oh, my goodness...It is absolutely beautiful! Helen would have loved it! The painting is soooo Helen…” Mission accomplished. I had created a painting that was true to Helen. I burst into happy tears.

When I asked Andra's permission to do this blog post about my painting and the story behind it, she said she would only agree if people didn’t feel sorry for Helen or her family. She said “Helen was so joyful and happy, she must be remembered that way too.”

My painting was done for a beautiful, joyful little girl who loved the world and all those around her. This painting is a celebration of a wonderful person named Helen.

Poppy Painting in Progress

I've been happily painting the past few days. I was asked to create a painting as a special Christmas gift for someone. I have used five different reference photos to create my composition!

What you see here is my first day's work on it. It has changed since. I've added some poppy seed heads and  a few more flowers. There is lots still to do on it, adding layers of colour and detail.  These photos will really give you a sense of how I start with very light washes. The lavender sweetpeas look like floral phantoms at this point but they will slowly acquire dimension and texture. I will also deepen the poppies' colour and add texture to their petals.

The hardest part of this painting was before I'd even picked up my paintbrush. I spent a couple of hours sifting through photos (some provided by my client, some of my own) and did a lot of thinking before coming up with a composition that would work artistically and also be of emotional significance for the recipient. I'm always a bit nervous doing paintings for others. It's important that I create something that pleases me but, most of all, them. I'm happy to say that I've already received a lovely note from my client about my progress so far.

It's not the first time I've painted poppies. I posted a long time ago about a painting I did on my honeymoon of a poppy field in France. I even included a photo of a younger me sitting in the middle of a field while I painted.

It's also not the first time I've painted a row of flowers. You just need to look at my blog header to see that. :)  And there was the painting of wildflowers that I finished last year. It is available in my Etsy shop as a print.  A row of tangled flowers is probably one of my favourite kinds of paintings to paint.

Wildflowers on 14 x 10 inch Arches 300 lb. cold-pressed paper

A Painting Flies to France

In June, a friend of mine asked if I would be willing to do a painting for her that she would give to friends in France when she visited them this summer.  She wanted me to do a painting of their garden. That sounded like something I would like to do so I said yes. She obtained photos and gave three of them to me telling me to choose the one I preferred. Two of the photos focused mostly on a large, lovely coral-toned bungalow with a pool running the length of it. I chose the photo that showed a peek of the house and pool but more of the garden--an interesting tropical mixture of palm trees, pruned shrubs and flowers. And I have to say, those palm trees surprised me! When I think of a French garden, I have a different picture in my head--I guess mostly because we've visited the less temperate zones of France.

If you have ever done a commissioned work, you'll know about the extra pressure it carries. In this case there was a double level:  I wanted my friend to be happy with the painting as well as the final recipients.  It's also challenging to work from someone else's photo (no two photographer's eyes are the same) of a place you've never visited.  Plus I never want to simply replicate a photo.  So I found myself holding my breath a lot when I did this painting.

Meeko gave me moral support.  He is getting better at resting quietly in my studio while I paint, although he is still a work in progress too.

I tried to be true to most of the details of the scene while still making it look like one of my paintings. I infused it with more light. I guessed at some architectural features that were hidden by foliage in the photo. I tried to give it a happy feeling.  I've shown you a few photos so you can see its progress as I built up the detail.  The painting took me several days.

Painting of Cap Ferret House & Garden - Final Version

I delivered the painting to my friend last Friday. She was pleased and I got a big hug. The painting travelled with her to France on the weekend and sometime in the next two weeks, it will be given to her friends. My fingers are crossed that they will be happy with my interpretation of their lovely property.

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When we were in New York, I was able to visit Anthropologie for the first time. I think I was grinning the whole time I was there. What a lovely store. I bought myself that beautiful yellow and blue mug in the top photo. And I also bought Geninne's gorgeous 'Write Everyday' Journal.