Summertime

14 x 21" original oil

sold

Summertime is a painting full of bright colors and great shapes. Usually I pre-mix the colors I will need in a painting, but on this one I didn't. I mixed with the brush right on the painting. I may also have eaten an entire bag of Lifesavers Wint-O-Green mints while painting Summertime. I love those things. 

I love the depth in this piece with the lit areas behind the stems towards the top. The hardest two flowers were the orange and red-orange ones in the very front. The light on them is very subtle. The red-orange flower in the bottom right corner has petals leaning so that light comes at them three ways: from the back, side and from the front. Those are the hardest because it takes extra mixing and a bit of determination to paint it as I see it instead of just using the colors I have on the palette already. I used a lot of quinacridone red in this painting. That color is a superstar. 

This is a detail of my very favorite area. My eye lands here every time. Strong front-to-back layering, strong edges, strong contrast. 

I took a trip to my Salt Lake gallery, Alpine Art, today. I've been doing business with Alpine Art for a few years but I have never posted about them on my art blog, so here are a few things about them: 

This is me at Alpine Art with Susan and Apryll. Susan and Apryll do so much for all of the artists and for the Salt Lake City art scene. Buttercup, my yellow lab, is in the picture behind me. She loves the gallery. Alpine Art is very dog-friendly and they are the only place one can buy my little 6x6" oil paintings of Buttercup. Click here to see them. Alpine Art has a show every June that benefits No More Homeless Pets and my dog paintings will be available for purchase at that event. Be sure to stop by Alpine Art for that opening on June 15th.

I love the area of Salt Lake that Alpine Art is in. They are up near the Avenues on South Temple in a huge historic building. Giant sycamores line the streets. You would never guess you're in a desert. 

Interestingly enough, on my first trip to Alpine Art to deliver some artwork I was surprised to see that it was two doors down from The Bride's Shop. That is where I bought my wedding dress! 

And if you are a felter, Black Sheep Wool Co., next door to Alpine Art, has great wool and supplies. I love their logo. 

Mmmm. And this store is on the other side of Alpine Art. Mrs. Backer's Pastry Shop, since 1941. I may or may not have gone inside to get something for the freeway drive home...