Among the deeply satisfying tasks of being an artist, naming (and here describing) my paintings by subject and location (instead of some AI generated less than meaningful fluff) has been my preference, except that there IS feeling to the colors alone, and I would prefer their names to hint at it at least. For ease and joy, I’ve employed one of my most cherished books, Maerz & Paul’s Dictionary of Color, a color name reference originally published in 1930. So this tiny painting made in the parking lot of the aquatic center at Silver Strand State Beach on Coronado Island, California is of California Buckwheat, but looking up it’s darker petaled shade, it’s labelled “Springtime”. The paler ones I painted are maybe “Venetian Pink” or “Powder Pink” according to M & P. Because I am much more of a painter than a drawer, finding a match in nature to the colors I can mix on my palette is among the most satisfying aspects of my practice. While cultivated flowers are dreamy painting subjects, humble wildflowers (weeds to some) routinely draw my appreciation. Can you feel it? Does it make you smile? It’s just such a welcome miracle to me to see the delicate petals of miniature blooms which form these little ball-shaped composite clusters, in spite of, not because of, human cultivation.
Among the deeply satisfying tasks of being an artist, naming (and here describing) my paintings by subject and location (instead of some AI generated less than meaningful fluff) has been my preference, except that there IS feeling to the colors alone, and I would prefer their names to hint at it at least. For ease and joy, I’ve employed one of my most cherished books, Maerz & Paul’s Dictionary of Color, a color name reference originally published in 1930. So this tiny painting made in the parking lot of the aquatic center at Silver Strand State Beach on Coronado Island, California is of California Buckwheat, but looking up it’s darker petaled shade, it’s labelled “Springtime”. The paler ones I painted are maybe “Venetian Pink” or “Powder Pink” according to M & P. Because I am much more of a painter than a drawer, finding a match in nature to the colors I can mix on my palette is among the most satisfying aspects of my practice. While cultivated flowers are dreamy painting subjects, humble wildflowers (weeds to some) routinely draw my appreciation. Can you feel it? Does it make you smile? It’s just such a welcome miracle to me to see the delicate petals of miniature blooms which form these little ball-shaped composite clusters, in spite of, not because of, human cultivation.
