Early Bird, Night Owl.

I haven't painted big in a while. Ya there's been a 4x5' painting here, a 4x3' there. I did a 30x40" commission and a 30' mural and have something around 8x6' in the works (more on that later), but compared to the 5x5' painting-per-week I was doing during the pandemic, the large-scale stuff has been few and far between. I think that's why these latest two have been so fun. 

Started about two weeks ago I built these canvases from scratch and turned my garage into a studio for the weekend. I wanted to continue the Natural Remedy series in a new form and knew I wanted to start with a light and dark theme for the first two large-scale additions to the series. 

Night Owl was the first to get underway. I started with dark blues and purples that have become familiar in recent work. I knew that would be a good setup based on experience so it seemed like the obvious "comfort-zone" to get started in.

Other than the light and dark theme I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted these paintings to do. I knew they'd be floral, but each Natural Remedy series has something unique that differentiates them from the others. They relate, but are not all the same. Perhaps it would be simply the size; perhaps more depth and transparency; maybe I'd find something else along the way.

While Night Owl brought comfort, Early Bird brought excitement, if a bit more anxiety as well. With thoughts of Powerhouse dancing in my head, I wanted to explore a larger scale with a light background. Originally I thought it would be more white or beige, but as usual instinct took over and plans we're shoved to the side of the road. 

Despite being a little unsure, Early Bird took off fast. Once the background was finished it very quickly progressed to the stage seen to the right where I hit a bit of a wall. I reached the dreaded point where I liked the current status, knew it wasn't done, but didn't want to ruin what I had. Luckily I had Night Owl to fall back on while I built up inspiration and some confidence to take the next steps

The paintings are about done now...just a few more details and couple hours of staring before I'll be convinced. I'll post final images and more details but you can plan on checking these and a slew of other paintings out at Cafe Lulu starting with an opening next Friday evening for Bay View Gallery Night. 

As always, contact me to get your own commission started and thanks for reading! Cheers, happy painting, and have a great Memorial Day weekend.