Hydrangeas...First Bloom

After a really awful four days with no phone and, hence, no computer...I found myself really painting tight at our ArtRetreat today. Oh well, gotta take the frustration out somewhere and in painting, I'm in complete control. I found that I really wanted all this structure and not much in decision making with such a limited palette...just sorta fill in the blanks in the petals. Although I usually prefer a looser painting, this one fit the ticket and when I finished painting, my brain was completely over the "out in lala land" and "lost in the woods of East Texas with no human connections" feeling. It's really a shame that we are so dependent on our phones and computers, but that's the way it is.

My Nikko Blue hydrangeas are really putting on a show this year. Such shocking colors are showing up so that means I must have really hit the fertilizer earlier just right. These bushes are about 15 years old now and I keep thinking that they'll die back, but they come back for me every spring in all their glory...they're still my favorites of all the hydrangeas I've planted. This painting is 11x15 on Arches 140# and a very limited palette of AJ cobalt, sap, and aurolein yellow in various consistencys.