With snow falling almost daily now, I don’t think I’m the only one around here longing for spring! This particular painting reminds me that spring will eventually come. I was entranced by the simple beauty of these particular potato flowers a few years back, and figured it was high time I painted them.
Buried Treasure, 16 by 20 inches, oil on RayMar Canvas board
Fellow artists have encouraged me to start saving my palette scrapings (left over paint after a painting session). When mixed together, this paint makes beautiful, neutral “mud”. The paint that I used for “Almost Ready” is quite expensive, and since I hate waste, but also hate running out of paint on my palette, I figured this particular brand would make a good candidate for mud. I scraped the paint, mixed similar colors and faithfully put them in the freezer for a rainy day. ”Almost Ready” took a loooooong time to complete, so I accumulated a nice amount of mud. My potato blooms made the perfect subject for this high-end mud. Obviously, I had to dive for some pure pigment in the lemon yellows, but all else came from my mud pile.
Have you even dug up potatoes? There is very little in this world more rewarding than digging them up! Every year my boys gather around me and help as I sit in the dirt with a hand trowel, looking for this buried treasure. The sweet smell of the soil, and its soft texture is intoxicating. The possibility of finding just one more is addicting. We only have two hand trowels but this doesn’t stop anyone from digging. No potato can be left behind and happy is the one who found the potato that got away from the first treasure seeker.
Tali's an Alaskan artist and graphic designer. She's influenced by the light, color and brushwork of the impressionists; as well as the depth, luminosity and draftsmanship of the old masters and academic artists. Her works can be found in numerous private collections throughout the globe. Her original paintings and giclee prints are available through this website, and at Artic Rose Gallery in Anchorage, Alaska. Talya paints from her home studio in Wasilla, Alaska.
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All content © 2010 by Forget Me Not Fine Art and Portraiture by Talya Johnson
I love it!
Wonderful piece, the colors are superb. Thanks for sharing.
You might enjoy this piece I did awhile back.
Not sure if the code went through, will see when I hit the submit button.
best regards,
Delmus Phelps