Posts Tagged: Scotland
Inspiring Your Art: Roses
For your inspiration this week, I’d like you to think about roses. They’re more of a summer flower to me, rather than a spring one, though my roses are all blooming right now. I just extended the landscaping along the side of my house and purchased two new rose bushes to help fill in the space. The images here are of flowers from those two bushes.
I don’t have a theme or overall plan with my landscaping, I confess. I mostly find plants that I like and then figure out where I’m going to put them. I couldn’t resist the vibrant colors of these two roses, so home with me they came! I love color and flowers can have some of the most intense, vibrant colors I’ve seen.
But anyway! Roses have many traditional meanings—there’s a whole language of meanings associated with the color of the rose (and for different flowers as well). That’s certainly an aspect you can explore with your art, if you’re so inclined. Other associations exist too, including a wealth of feelings and associations around the thorns—another potentially good topic to explore with your art.
I lived for several years in Aberdeen, Scotland, which is known for its roses. There are roses throughout the parks and gardens. They claim to have over two million roses in the city! So in a way, roses symbolize Scotland to me, though I have a stronger association with daffodils, of which there are also millions in the springtime in Aberdeen.
What do roses mean to you? How have you (or can you) use them in your artwork? I’d love to see what you come up with!
Throw Back Thursday: “Bressay” oil painting
During my first undergraduate degree, I spent my Junior year abroad in Aberdeen, Scotland. I truly loved living in Scotland and would go back again in a heartbeat. During that year I traveled through Europe and a bit in Scotland as well. One of my trips was to visit the Shetland and Orkney Islands in the far (faaaaarrr) north of Scotland. Both places are fascinating, though incredibly different from each other despite being relatively close together.
The Shetland Islands are the farthest northern point of the United Kingdom. The ferry ride from Aberdeen takes 14 hours. The Shetlands are wild and windswept and bare, with no trees in sight. No traffic lights either! There are a number of prehistoric ruins as well as a wealth of wildlife—particularly sea birds, including Puffins.
After I returned to the US, while finishing my degree, I created this painting of Bressay Island in the Shetlands. You can take a ferry from the Shetland mainland to Bressay, which is a great place for walking and bird watching. I spent some time watching the waves crashing against the rocky coast, and tried to capture the power and awe I felt at the sight in this piece. The rocky coastline also reminds me a bit of the coast of Maine, where I spent a lot of summers when I was growing up.
“Bressay” is done in oil on canvas and since it’s one of my earlier pieces, I used traditional oil paints. I’ve since switched over to water-mixable oils for the most part, since they don’t require the use of solvents. I enjoy working in oils—it’s by far my favorite medium for painting. I typically work in acrylics for my abstract pieces and oils for my more realistic paintings. Though I’m considering trying oils for some abstract pieces, simply because I enjoy working with them more. I’ve also been focusing on my torn paper collages lately, which hasn’t left a lot of time for painting. That’s something I need to work on, I suppose!
What is your favorite art medium? Are there any mediums you want to work more in or have been wanting to try? What places inspire you to create art?
Inspiring Your Art: Spring Flowers
I’ve been eagerly awaiting spring, and it looks like it’s finally in sight. The weather is warming up (sort of!) and the spring flowers are finally starting to appear. The crocuses are all up and the daffodils are also starting to bloom now. I know a few weeks ago I had you use crocuses as your art inspiration for spring, but I’m pretty excited about the change of seasons, so I’m going to do it again!
This week I’d like you to consider spring flowers for your inspiration. This time I have a whole bunch of lovely purple crocuses blooming in my yard. I like the contrast between the pale, delicate lavender petals and the brighter yellow stamens. These particular flowers feel like happiness and warmth, to me.
I’d also like to present this photo of some early daffodils in my garden. I love daffodils. They’re bright and sunny and I love their cheerful exuberance. They also remind me of Scotland. I’ve lived there twice and I’ll always remember the millions of daffodils covering the parks and roadsides in the spring. It was truly an amazing sight. I miss Scotland; it’s a place that I really felt at home. So while daffodils remind me of Spring, they remind me even more of Scotland and all the great times I had there.
What are your favorite Spring flowers? How can you incorporate spring flowers into your art? It is the colors? The textures? The shapes? Show me what you come up with!