A few new pieces of art

Time seems to go by so fast.  I can't believe I haven't done a post since Easter and it is now May.  I have worked on a few paintings in that time.  Two are finished and framed along with a plate.  I have a couple more that are done but I haven't applied the polycrylic so will wait to post those at a later date.

I started this painting by doing a very busy, colorful and textured background.  Once I got the background done I wasn't sure what subject matter would look good on that much color and texture.  Since I love painting calla lilies I thought I would paint them in a vase hoping the background would not be too overpowering.  I chose red for the color of the vase.  Once I had that done I started to paint white calla lilies but didn't like the way they looked so I changed them to purple.  I am still questioning the very busy background, not because I don't like the look, but because I know the painting will be hard to sell because of the color combination.  Hopefully there is someone out there who can't live without owning this painting!  Here is "Purple Calla Lilies in Red Vase".

The next painting is one that I have done before.  I am sure you will recognize "Mr Hoots".  The size of this one is 8X10.

I painted this plate featuring flamingos as a gift for a friend who lives in Florida.  I am happy to say that I will be giving it to her in person next week.  I will be flying to Florida next Monday and spend a week with my friend Sally.  This will be a "Girls Only" vacation.  Sally and her husband Bob were long time friends of Roger and myself from our Ohio days.  They visited us in Tucson a few times and we always saw them on our trips back to Ohio.  I'm sorry to say that Bob passed away a number of years ago.  After his passing Sally moved to Florida.  When we moved to Michigan she has asked us to come visit her.  We decided the first trip will be just me.  Maybe this coming winter when we can't stand the cold both Roger and I will go spend some time with her and also visit other friends who have moved there.

This is the same pattern that I did awhile back on a domino train station that was commissioned by someone who winters in FL.  I thought Sally might like it.  When I showed it to a few people here they said I should do a canvas painting featuring flamingos as they have become a hot new trend in this area.  I may do that when I get back from my trip.