Wilmington, North Carolina offers a long list of reasons to live here, which is witnessed by all of the people discovering this fact and joining the fun.  Great weather almost all year, the beaches, creative restaurants, cultural activities, two colleges, decent shopping, historical sites, the river and port, and beautiful plant life top the list for me.

Now how many of my readers who are local know about the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden at Piney Ridge Nature Preserved directly behind Alderman School?  If your answer is no, you've missed a truly unique treasure for the area.  During the months of April and May, one can observe a wetland area transform itself  into a colorful and exotic garden, featuring carnivorous plants such as Venus Fly Traps, Sun Dews, and Pitcher plants.  The canary yellow and maroon flowers appear first followed by the pitchers which awake from their winter's sleep and begin their work of capturing insects which feed them.

Since I now live very close to this garden, I'm a frequent visitor and have observed the growth process for the first time.  The colors of these plants are just fabulous, especially with backlighting creating a glow.  Well, my painting, The Carnivorous Chorus, illustrates my compulsiveness and I just couldn't help myself!  I started with one plant and a composition idea, and the plants grew and grew and grew!  They really got out of control, but it's my painting and I had such a great time creating it... that's all I'm going to say about that.

I did limit my palette to yellow green, blue green, red violet and red orange.  In all of the confusion, I tried to give your eye a path to follow with a multitude of characters along the way.  I declare I see people conversing or singing and thus the name.  I just think this painting is fun and of course my photography never represents  the same quality as seeing the painting in person.

Fourth Friday is coming around and that would be a perfect opportunity for you to see for yourself how much better most paintings are up close and personal.  Hope to see you then or any other time you would like to drop by my studio at theArtWorks™.

What do I paint next?  Many artists have a hundred ideas lined up and others need more immediate motivation.  Lately nostalgic images have appealed to me and my palette.  Thoughts from my childhood or images that remind me of an experience or smell or color combination that makes my heart sing are attractive.  My rhododendron painting, Highlands Beauty,  puts me in many places.  West Virginia and the farmland where my mom grew up and a place I still cherish are a first memories of this bush.  Camping with my children under rhododendron in the mountains of North Carolina off the Blue Ridge Parkway is an unforgettably pleasant thought.   The variety of coloration fascinates me as one can select from white, yellow, orange, pink, red and purple.  In just the right conditions, I can find these beauties in southeastern North Carolina as well as my beloved mountains, but then again, azaleas are part of this plant family  and the South is full of them.

Did you know I just love to paint flowers?  Now I know God does it best, but hopefully my efforts bring some joy too!  With this painting I wanted that light on the blossoms and of course I love those pink and orange buds.  I felt I had to chose a darker background to pop the petals and set off the focal point.  It is always a challenge to paint the shadows of white and so much fun to mix all of those pastel tints of pink, lavender, blue, and green.  I sought some diagonal movement to make the composition more dynamic in spite of the tranquil quality of the subject.  Red and/or violet are always a helpful addition to greenery  and in this painting repeated color notes from the blossoms.

While I'm considering my next subject which will probably be more vegetation, I would appreciate any feedback you would offer on this painting.  This is my perception of the subject, but I'm interested in your thoughts.

I'm finally back at my easel! One painting in five months is not my usual pace, but life takes precedent sometimes. The last two days have been a delight as I create this impression of an abandoned family farm I came across in the mountains of North Carolina several years ago.

Endless Memories is a 14" x 18" x 1.5" oil on linen. I hope you feel the nostalgia that I experienced when I came around the curve to spot this site. I know I could hear generational voices and see daily activity of the families. Crows sounding their calls, a cat creeping up on a mouse or bird, mom sounding the meal bell, tired workers looking forward to an evening on the porch or maybe a night in town, sweet smells of hay or another crop.  You may have a few family stories you could add.

I used a rectangular quadratic color scheme of yellow, orange, blue, and violet....the secondary colors being mixed from Cadmium Yellow Light and Alizarin Crimson. I'm hoping you're finding pleasure in the resulting color harmony.  I paid attention to color temperature, edges, and variations of shapes as these are qualities I'm thinking about for my paintings.

Onward to the next painting, so until next time!