The Lilies Of The Field

I entered a floral painting for a call for entries this fall for the LDS church. I have had this on my goal list for at least ten years and I finally did it. The subject for the art show is "The Great Things of God" At first I was contemplating a complex still life, but then I thought "what can I reasonably do with the skills I have so far?"

Since I was focusing on flowers this summer, I decided to see if I could incorporate that subject to fit into that theme. I kept thinking about the scripture that talks about the lilies of the field and how they were more beautifully arrayed than King Solomon.

I did some research on what those "lilies" in Jerusalem might have looked like. It turns out that they are a Red Corn Poppy that grows wild in the fields in that part of the world. I found some good references to work from, but again I had to create my own arrangement and use some of my own photos of poppies to get a better sense of light. My pictures of poppies were of the California variety, and the Red Corn Poppy has a similar center, but fewer and less frilly petals. Like the fox painting, not having my own perfect reference photos makes things more difficult and time consuming.

Finally, I did get a painting done on time for the submission deadline and I sent it in. I didn't like the way the shadows looked on the middle poppy, but I couldn't seem to do any better and I decided to just let it go, after getting Jeff's reassuring opinion of course.

I just recently heard from the art selection committee, and they didn't choose my piece for the show. That is O.K., because my main goal was just to submit something and now I can share it with all of you on the blog.

Jeff's Corner: I think Toto and I will just lie down here and take a little nap...