Garden Watercolors

Camassia and Tulips
(SOLD - inquire about similar work)

I am all about my garden at this time of year and am painting some small (4" x 10") watercolors in it...of it.

Hate to tear myself away, but Alaska calls...and Oregon and Washington.  When I return I hope I can see the 36" tall poppy heads over the weeds...and I am dreaming of the fabulous roses of the northwest...and the Cascade Mountains, Columbia River, Kenai Peninsula, and midnight sun.   These are the last 3 states for my Fifty State Plein Air Painting Project 
which you may have heard me mention...a few thousand times...over the last 7 years...yes? 

Tell me about your trips, garden, paintings, dogs or plans. (bunions, bad knees, periodontists...no thanks).    North to the Future!

See side bar for the exhibit at Butternut of Garden art work .

Tent Living

My daughter and son-in-law are building a cute small house this summer in Central Vermont. This is where they live until the house is closed in. It is a pretty comfy abode actually. I'm visiting this day and was not too useful at the building site. So I did a watercolor sketch of the tent in the landscape.

Please look at Rodrica Tilley Gallery of available Paintings when you have time.
You can see the building project progress here

Watercolor Demo

This is the 10" x 10" watercolor demo I started on October 12th on the patio while some of you watched. It took another few hours to get this far. It's close to finished, but I'm leaving for my 7 state southern loop tomorrow. So, it will settle until I return and see what needs to be changed.

Look to the right>>>>>>>>>>>>>and up; the email subscription box has returned. My daughter of pearled earth found it! Now you can subscribe and not miss a post. Thanks to all of you who comment regularly. I love it.

Nasturtiums in Creamer

SOLD
Another watercolor...and more nasturtiums in Nan Burti's cream pitcher....I do love these two small clay pieces, but so far I've used them in several paintings and never put cream or sugar in them. They have nice necks for flowers and I love the glaze colors.

I used the roughest watercolor paper I had for this just to see what would happen. Besides, I did a similar pitcher full of nasturtiums last year at the Artists' Open House Weekend on a very smooth - hot press paper- so I wanted to mix it up a bit.

Watercolor Bouquets

SOLD
These orange nasturtiums in one of Zoë Tilley Poster's vases are one of several small paintings I'm doing this September. There are also roses and sweet peas, so far. I always do these from life...set-up on my drawing board under the skylights so the light is quite clear and somewhat flat giving a specific characteristic quality to the colors. These will be available at my studio during the Artists' Open House Weekend in October.

Lilium 'Pizzazz'

I've been amusing myself by painting some of my wonderful Asiatic & hybrid lilies in watercolor. The weather has cooled off a bit and is more conducive to spending time in the garden- painting or weeding. This is a small 4" x 4" and there are a few other companions to it.

Rose and Pansy Bouquet

SOLD
A small watercolor done yesterday; I set up a tiny vase on my drawing table containing what I consider to be a wonderful bouquet of a single blossom of Winter Sunset Rose and some almost black, huge pansies.
It will be for sale during my upcoming Annual Summer Art Exhibit July2 through 11 here at the studio. The exhibit is open daily 10am-6pm with the following exceptions: July 2nd is an opening reception only from 6-8pm and July 11th the show closes at 4pm.

Nasturtiums Demo

SOLD
Monday during the Artists' Open House Weekend I painted this bouquet for my watercolor demo. It is on a hot pressed surface; Strathmore 500 illustration board. Most of this was done during the initial one and a half hours. I had been studying the pitcher of flowers for two days as it sat in my studio. And I spent some time putting a few finishing touches to it on Tuesday. Maybe it is done now. I will look at it a bit more before it goes into a frame. I am very happy with the way the orange flowers pop out from the grey background. It has a certain looseness that I like. Of course it could always be better....next time.

Thanks to everyone who watched...so nice to have a truly interested audience who actually love to watch paint dry.

My Barn Flower Box

SOLD
This display of Gleam nasturtiums and Midnight Sun pansies has greeted me daily as I go about my garden chores and it is the last of the August paintings...a small four inch square watercolor.

I set out to paint every day in August and I almost did that (missed 2 days). Some paintings took more than a day or two to complete. I ended up with about 14 new framed paintings, manyof them gardens or flowers.

I like working on projects. I enjoy waking up every day and thinking about what I am going to paint that day. Projects lend a certain focus to my work. I appreciate the continuity; not allowing interruptions to derail my painting. I also got some ideas for larger studio paintings to work on in the coming months.

During September I will be adding to the Fifty State Plein Air Painting Project, visiting New England. And I'll be preparing my new work and messy studio for visitors during the Artists' Open House Weekend October 10, 11 & 12. On October 12th I'll be demonstrating watercolor here at the the studio at 11 am and pastel at 2pm. Please join me. I will be happy to answer technique & materials questions as well as those on "art."

Birthday Bouquet

SOLD

This watercolor of a bouquet that my daughter picked from her garden in Scranton took me forever! I'm glad I didn't count the hours. This is the second day I worked on it and it's only 4" square! This happens to me with watercolor. I get hung up in the details and that's not where I want to be right now. It's on Fabriano paper. I used the complimentary colors of the zinnias & ageratum. Can't wait to get back to some larger pastels.

Stargazer

SOLD
Never say never. Watercolor is not a choice I ever make for plein air work...except for yesterday. Seated at the patio table facing my new Stargazer lily in a pot, I was tired. It was late and I felt I could probably manage a small watercolor. I painted it while my husband grilled up some burgers and corn. (Thank you, dear.) It's on rough Arches w/c paper and I did most of it with a 1/2" flat chisel brush (ran in the studio for a small pointed round for the speckles...no masking fluid.) It has good contrast & movement and great color! It was worth it's while and it'll be in a 10" maple box frame and on the studio wall soon. I'm pretty sure it will outlast the one in the pot I'm about to feed to some delighted critter in my garden.

Working in Series

all SOLD


The last thing I do at night before retiring is check the sky to see where the moon is...and the first thing I do upon rising. There is something reassuring for me to see the cyclical nature of the moon changing shape and position in a predictable way. Rounding a corner on my way home and catching a glimpse of a full orange just-rising moon can lift my mood immediately.

Today I am finishing up a small series of four winter moonscapes. These simple, four-inch high watercolors are part of a much larger series of moonscapes; sort of a series within a series. I've been putting moons into my paintings for decades.

Working in a tight series, like this one, gives me a chance to explore some options of color and composition. I have confined my subject closely by making the moon the center of attention in each painting and using a similar color scheme.

I rarely show these "little paintings" on my website...and the photos you see here are not the usual professional ones...I took these photos. (I'm sure my usual photographer will appreciate this disclaimer) You can see these four paintings here or framed the next time you visit my studio.