Here I go again... I haven't done much as far as still life is concerned, simply because I relish painting action-filled stuff like rodeo, but a couple months ago I  was intrigued with the pretty peonies in the back yard and started this oil, finally finshing it the other day. There's something about peonies -   even though they are a huge flower, their petals are very delicate and these white ones have a tiny touch of pink in them. I really enjoyed the challenge of painting the surface of the glass vase and the reflections on the tablecloth and truly began to understand the attraction of painting still lifes. The subject matter may be an inspiration, but it is still all about light, form, design, color, mood and all the cool things that artists love to play around with.

I believe it was Alanis Morrisette that sang that line in one of her songs, that she highly recommended "biting off more than you can chew". I decided to do just that when I tackled this painting. Normally I include every little detail in my oil paintings, but lately I've been trying to loosen it up and be more "painterly". So I used bigger brushes (on the advice of Kevin Macpherson's wonderful book "Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light and Color") and more paint than I normally use. I also tried a different composition with the point of interest on the far left side of the painting. There is plenty going on here, but if I had included the details in a tight realistic fashion, then the main idea would probably have been be lost in the busy-ness.

It's never easy jumping out of your comfort zone, but it is by far the best teacher. I will take everything I learned from this painting on to the next, and so on and on the learning journey goes...

This painting challenged me to represents the things that I love about rodeo; the hot sunlight swirling through a constantly dry and dusty atmosphere, colors in bright sunlight, colors in shade, colors through dust and big bursts of energy and motion.