MANDARINS AND POPPIES

Orange for its emotional warmth and blue for the sky and the sea, these colors are opposite one another on the color wheel.  And what good companions they make!

Since we can't grow anything outside in Wisconsin right now, what a perfect way to bring some of those colors of nature into the house!  This painting titled Mandarins and Poppies measures 24" x 24" and is available for purchase in my Etsy shop, Gillyflower Cottage.  Think spring!

BLUE POPPIES AND PODS No. 3 - 8 x 10 inch original watercolor or print

It's a beautiful September day in Wisconsin and as I walk through my garden I see more seed pods than flowers.  The Cleome are hanging with thousands of seeds in their long, skinny pods.  Day Lillies and Snapdragons, only a few meager blooms here and there. But all are loaded with pods close to bursting with seeds so the cycle can continue.  The garden is getting ready to go to sleep.  

So, in order to keep the garden alive in the long winter months to come - some watercolors to remember those long, lazy summer days when the garden was full of blooms.  And what better to paint than some more beautiful blue poppies and pods in their last days of glory.

 My plan was to paint about 7 stems but when I reached 3, it seemed balanced and finished.

Then for my little experiment.  After the first few drops of color around the poppies there was no turning back.

But it worked and this style I've seen other artists use was really fun to do, leaving just a few edges of the poppies bumping out of the background.  I also really like the way the cool blue of the poppies is complemented by the contrast of a warm yellow-green the background provides.

("BLUE POPPIES AND PODS No. 3" in a suggested mat and frame.)

The original painting is available in my Etsy shop by clicking the listing below:

Prints of this painting are also available in three sizes.  Clicking the photo below will take you to my etsy shop, Gillyflower Cottage.

Thanks for looking!

-Nan

BLUE POPPIES No. 3

Day 15 

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I'm back at it with my blue poppies. I think I just love that color in the paintbox!  I'll need another day or two to finish but I'm going to try something different with this one.  First I need to get all the stems on the paper - probably about 5 more flowers and pods in difference stages.  Then IF it works, I'll have Blue Poppies No.3 in my Etsy shop.

I've been looking at antique botanicals lately and they're so intricate!  Below is a red poppy botanical from 1887.  I think I'd need to grow some of my own poppies so I could cut them up and get all these details!  

Thanks for looking!  

-Nan