Peony Progress… and completion!

I have been working on this peony for maybe 2 weeks now. I’ve done many late-night sessions when the babies are asleep, and a few daytime sessions while they played in the mud in the yard! Summer time sure is the time to be creating as much art as I can. Sticks and rocks and mud will keep my 3 year old and 1 year old entertained for hours! I digress.

This peony intimidated me right from the beginning. I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to capture the lightness of the petals with all the detail I wanted to bog them down with. In the end, I do really like the details I’ve added to the petals, but I think I would like to workshop with making peonies that feel… fluffier, in the future. The real star of the show in this piece is the leaves! I so love how they turned out. Peony leaves are so succulent and waxy and vibrant with their red veins. They really make this piece complete for me.

As I was working on this piece today, I was letting myself sit in the awe of this flower. I cannot believe, sometimes, that we get to live on this planet where all these wild and wonderful things grow. When you take time to meditate on a flower, trying to picture every tiny cell hard at work to create the beauty you see… it’s just astounding. Peonies are a true favorite of mine. I can’t wait to paint them again.