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Monday, February 02, 2015

3 in 5 Art Challenge Day 3 ...Wildflowers


'Sunshine on a Cloudy Day'           18x24           pastel          ©Karen Margulis
Wildflowers are my muse. They are my truth. When I paint them I feel happy. I don't paint them all of the time but when I return to them it is like coming home. Wildflowers have been good to me as an artist. My wildflower paintings have opened the door to many opportunities. I am looking forward to sharing my techniques at my demonstration at this year's IAPS convention in Albuquerque.

The painting below is a studio version of the painting that started it all. This patch of weeds changed the direction of my work. I discovered that I was drawn to the under appreciated flowers and plants that some call weeds. It is my goal to have others see the beauty in the flowers by the roadsides.

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I was thrilled when Pastel Journal included me in a feature about painting flowers. I was even more thrilled when my Purple coneflower painting was selected for the cover!  Thank you Pastel Journal and to my muse!



2 comments:

Susan J Wachob said...

So good to see your work. I have all of your iBooks demonstration/instructions. Just wondering if you would consider doing one on rocks. I too love wild flowers. My favorite is chickory, the pretty one with the deep, deep roadside roots that are a beautiful blue. Thanks Karen :-)

robertsloan2art said...

Wow! These three are all so spectacular! They bring back wonderful memories including feral kittens playing in my weedy yard in New Orleans. The flowers were so varied and colorful. I'd see them bob against the wind, then suddenly lean over to reveal two wrestling kittens rolling over each other. They'd scamper away and the plants spring back as if they'd never been there.

There is so much variety in these underappreciated flowers. I could never understand why people hated them. Dandelions always seemed like a much more beautiful lawn covering than mere grass, they bloomed and were edible so why not grow them?

There are still some people who will replant their gardens with all native wild plants and enrich them with the ones that feed birds and wildlife. Prairie yards and native gardens are a wonderful thing.

Thank you for posting these wonderful paintings! I liked your southwest ones too but was too tired to comment yesterday. Been there, you caught the feel of those dry red rocky places so well!