Paintings and the images they came from – November 14, 2023

“Southside Lily Pond” and the image that I used to paint it – in 2008.

Hi everyone!

I was updating my website with a couple of new paintings yesterday and realized it’s been two YEARS since I’ve shared something here with you. I have been using my voice on a new-ish occasional podcast more than I have been writing journal entries. I had the sense, though, that it’s high time for me to show up here, too.

Then, as the amazing mystery of the universe goes, I received an email this morning from someone asking if I had the reference images that I used to create my paintings, and that she’d be interested in seeing them side-by-side. Boy, do I have them – a whole library, every single one.

Ding! Ding! Went the bell. How about a journal entry? No amount of voice can tell you what photos can.

I thought I’d share a few oldies. When I first started painting in the middle-aughts (2004-2008) I had much younger eyes and lesser technical abilities. Were digital photos yet a thing? I seem to remember getting a CD with images along with the sets of prints from my film photos from Longs Drugs.  I digress…

I painted full sheet paintings – 22″x30″ – looking only at 4″x6″ prints! No zooming, no editing. As you can see, I cropped by folding the photo.  As low tech as you can get.

These paintings came through after I had found my sea legs and could think about navigating the wild waters of watercolor. The most prominent and universal differences between image and painting:  the paintings are lighter – and clearer. There can be a sort of mushiness in a photo that the artist brain clarifies by finding and deliberately painting edges. There IS a reason to paint, even representationally, somewhat photo-realisitcally, as I do. The end result is potentially much more compelling. That’s my claim and I’ll go to the mat to defend it!

All of these panntings have their stories. If you want to know about the origins of the images and paintings, it’s all there in my Gallery.

Here’s the one I called “Paris Roses.” Painted in 2005, it’s a full sheet. It’s also the only image I’ve painted more than once. The bottom panting is larger, 26″x41″ and came through 15 years later – during the Pandemic lockdown – on gessoed paper, so the texture and effect is its own thing.   It’s called “Love.” Interesting to see how much more I need vibrancy now.

Both of these paintings are in the Roses Gallery.

Another super-favorite is “Twin Dahlias.”  Painted in 2007 and is 22″x30.”  I cropped this from both ends.

This one is in the Other Flowers Gallery.

Next comes Reach.  Also painted in 2007, also a full sheet.  THIS one was painted looking at a section of a 4″x6″ photo.  My funky crop was a cut-out of an old white envelope.  I decided to de-clutter the painting by leaving out the rose vine in the upper left. The intensity of the sky has its story – you can read about it in the Roses Gallery.

This last one I called “Morning Shine.”  A full sheet yet again.  Painted in 2010.  I let myself really make the background painterly. I remember having fun wtih it, inlcuding rose and blue, echoing the colors in the subject, along with the yellow ochery colors of the house behind the camelia.   In this painting I can see the starting of my obsession with light.  I did my best to paint the light bouncing off the leaves.  See how much less “mushy” the painting is, as compared with the photo?

This was fun!  Let me know if you’d like to see more.  As the years have evolved my paintings, I use Photoshop to compose quite a bit.  Some images I’ve painted from are so much more than those captured by my camera.

Thanks, Liza, for the inspiration!

Love to all –

Cara