White Geraniums and Pink Petunias

White Geraniums and Pink Petunias - In Progress

This year, my gardening has been limited because we moved to a new house in late May.   In a way, it has been nice because there is so little daily maintenance.  But I was in the mood to paint summer flowers, and all I had within easy reach were geraniums and petunias.     I taped a long piece of canvas off the roll onto a piece of hardboard.    I placed my flowers in a square vase.  I liked the longwise aspect of the surface since the white geranium blossom stood tall above the rest of the blooms.    I toned the canvas with a transparent wash, then wiped out the lightest colored petals as well as the angular lines of the cut crystal vase.  I was pleasantly surprised as the painting developed.

Geraniums and Petunias

At some point along the way, I decided to unfurl the bottom section of canvas, another 8 inches or so.  You can see a ripple in the canvas where it used to be folded.    One thing led to another...I continued painting down the canvas. Impulsively, I added a round table under the vase I used cool shades of white to paint a tablecloth and let the "folds" drip down the long stretch of cloth.  Even though the table isn't looking quite round yet, I like it and I may even make a rod pocket at the top and hang it tapestry style.  I can always stretch it later if it doesn't work.