Floral Still Life Painting - Yellow Daisies, Lilacs, Blue And White Pitcher

Floral Still Life Painting

Yellow Daisies, Lilacs, Blue and White Pitcher

14x18 Stretched Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

This floral still life painting features bright yellow daisies, lilacs and baby's breath  arranged in a blue and white pitcher. It is fun to work with complementary colors when arranging still life compositions.  The complementary color of yellow is purple, and the complement of blue is orange.  I used  hues from both color families as I painted. I actually painted this once before.  I had saved the image so that I could use it as a reference.  As I began to search my files (and files) of photos I found this again and decided it would be fun.  It is listed in my Etsy shop.  Click here to find it.

Lilacs And Small White Daisies Painting

 

Lilacs In Copper Pot With Small White Daisies

14x14 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

 

This is a small change in my regular daisy painting this week...I decided to do another flower along with daisies. Of course lilacs are not in season right now but I was doing a search in my images for daisies and came along this still life set up I had photographed. I have this really sweet hand-painted China bowl that I'm always wanting to paint, but never can find anything to put with it to my satisfaction. In this arrangement the copper seemed to enhance the lilacs (the star of the show) and the little white daisies added to the floral arrangement. Then I noticed this great little bowl. I like it placed as a second focal point. Purples, yellow oranges, greens and white daisies make a nice color combination. The painting as a whole could be better if done from life....photographs are flat in dimension, not showing the light paths, but it was a great excercise. I enjoyed it. Click lilacs to find it.

Lilac Painting

Lilac Painting

11x14 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

When I paint lilacs I am always reminded of my grandmother, her last country home and her flowers and garden.  I am reminded of learning how to snap beans, shell black-eyed peas, and cousins.  Yes...cousins.  My mother and father both were from families of nine children, so I had lots of cousins.  Just the scent of lilacs remind me of my grandmother's driveway.  Her lilac bushes were huge (at least to a kid) and they grew up on the bank from the ditch along her driveway.  I was born in the oldest set of grandchildren and I remember literally digging a horseshoe tunnel along with my cousins into the bank next to the lilac bushes, covering it with old lumber and dirt. After we sufficiently covered the claustrophobic tunnel came the "DARE".  We each had to take turns and crawl through the horseshoe tunnel on our bellies........it was sort of like an acceptance code of being in the "in crowd"!  The "in crowd" of older cousins!  The crazy thing is that it took us forever to dig the tunnel for the short "thrill" it gave each of us.  It seemed to take a lot longer and not near as much fun filling the dirt back into the hole.  Lilacs, an old fashioned flower, have so much more meaning for me than the beautiful scent, the fabulous lilac color and my passion for painting them with canvas and paint.  This painting is listed in my Etsy store.  Click here.

Blue Hyacinth

Blue Hyacinths

8x10 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

Working in flower beds this spring has taken hours of my time.   I get inspired by the different blooms of bushes and bulbs.  We are only a few official days into spring here, but Oklahoma is having record breaking highs in temperature.  We've had some wonderful rains come quite early and consistent for this time of the year.  The flowering bushes have been blooming for almost two weeks and the aromatic scents of these beauties are intoxicating.  It is a wonderful time for an artist.  These hyacinths inspired me for today's daily painting.  It is listed in my ChatterBoxArt shop on Etsy.

Lilacs in Antique Cream Pitcher

Lilacs in Antique Cream Pitcher

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Cheri Wollenberg

Lilacs are some of my favorite flowers.  They always remind me of my grandmother.  She had huge bushes that were so fragrant and sweet smelling.  They lined the drive going up to her home.  It's funny how scents can bring visual images to mind.  I can see her when I smell the lilacs.  I can see her stooped over picking blackberries and then making blackberry cobbler.  She made wonderful jams and buttermilk busquits.  She was 4'11" but we grandchildren we had a great respect for her.  She was loving but firm.   Her fragrance and beauty was as sweet smelling as the lilacs to me.

Lilacs in Vintage Vase

Lilacs in Vintage Vase

12x12 Oil on Canvas

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Cheri Wollenberg

This painting features a vintage vase with a bouquet of lilacs  that I saw on a blog post about a year ago. I contacted the blogger who posted it, and it was her photo (http://giddyappony.blogspot.com/).  She agreed to let me use her excellent photograph for inspiration for this painting.  The beautiful lilacs are arranged in a yellowish and fluted vintage vase that has delicate florets on the side. 

Lilac Bouquet

Lilac Bouquet

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Cheri Wollenberg

Lilacs are some of my favorite flowers.  Actually when I think of them I begin to remember times when I was a child.  My grandmother had huge lilac bushes.  I can almost smell their wonderful fragrance thinking of them.   They are lovely to paint.  Fresh colors of orchids, purples, maroons, and pinks.  Using a cool palette of colors in the forground with a warm background creates just enough contrast to allow this simple little composition to hold it's own.

Bouquet of Lilacs

Shirley's Lilacs

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Cheri Wollenberg

Each spring my friend Shirley shares bouquets of her beautiful, fragrant lilacs with me for still lifes. I can hardly wait till I get home to set them up in a composition using some of my favorite containers and objects. The process is so exciting and the fragrance enhances each brushstroke.  In this particular set up I chose a copper pot to place them in.  It made a lovely color combination, and I particularly admired the reflection on the black table surface.  I also added strewn lilac petals around which further filled the negative space in an exciting way.