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Monday, May 14, 2012

Finding Inspiration in Unexpected Places

'From Murphy's Garden'        5x7    oil on panel      sold
Last night I happened to tune into the Antiques Roadshow. I was in the kitchen and was half listening when they started talking about a painting a lady had brought in. I was too busy to go look until they mentioned that this artist was known for her flowers. I decided to take a peek and I am glad I did. The painting was by an American artist named Mary Elizabeth Price (1877-1965)  The painting was a large floral that the appraiser called a 'screen'.  It was a close-up of some Globe Mallow flowers on a gold and silver leaf background. I was captivated!  It was so contemporary and such a wonderful viewpoint of the flowers. I had to see more!

Irises by M.Elizabeth Price oil
I was not familiar with M.E. Price but after some research I learned that she lived in Pennsylvania and was a member of The Philadelphia Ten. She also had connections to the New Hope School. Mary Elizabeth Price was an advocate for the exhibition of women's artwork and was a pioneer in the area of art education. Price is, perhaps, best know for her paintings of decorative floral panels. These close-up, painterly renditions of peonies, poppies, hollyhocks and delphiniums often held gold or silver-leaf backgrounds.

Mary Elizabeth Price painting en Plein Air
 I just love this photo of Price at work on a large plein air painting of what looks like flowers. It makes me want to go out and paint some big flowers! I am really drawn to her work and I am so glad that I just so happened to see it on the Antiques Roadshow! I am definitely going to find out more about her. You just never know where inspiration can be hiding!

My painting of the purple irises was done during the Blue Ridge Plein Air Festival at Mary Murphy's garden. (that is another story!)

6 comments:

Cmichaudart said...

don't you love it when something you discover accidentially really becomes important to you?! nice 5 x 7 and really nice info about Price. thanks.

Roxanne Steed said...

Very cool!- AR has had a couple of ME Price's works end up on their show!-Very beautiful pieces (and a great inspiration!).

Marian Fortunati said...

Great post..
Funny how something like that can lead us to learn something new and help inspire us to grow!

Love the colors of your flowers!

robertsloan2art said...

Gorgeous painting. Thanks for featuring such an interesting artist. I like the idea of those florals on gold or silver leaf backgrounds, saw something in Pastel Journal about a contemporary artist doing pastel paintings with shells on gold leaf backgrounds. It's a stunning effect.

Anonymous said...

I love your pastels and oil paintings. I read your comments everyday and learn from you. I like how you try new things and take risks and they turn out for you. Thanks for the inspiration!

Karen said...

Thank you very much for your comments! I appreciate you following my blog and your kind words!