Friday, March 30, 2018

My Pastoral Landscapes

A pastoral landscape I painted is seen in this photograph featured in Romantic Country
magazine, Spring 2017 issue.  I don't think I have shared many of the paintings I created.
So lets have a look at them, shall we?
Pastoral landscape paintings are soothing and restful.  When I decorated
my home office I decided to paint some landscapes on the wall instead of 
hanging up artwork.  I framed them out with an exterior border so it looked
like a piece of artwork, and then I painted the interior area with various 
landscape scenes that conjured up the European countryside.
These were the first paintings I created and I absolutely loved them.
I made a mini movie in time lapse photography on how I created this painting,
and its on my Facebook page for those interested to see more of the process.
(Find my Facebook link on the sidebar of my blog)
They were such fun to create, so I ended up painting three for the walls in my office.
This was the staging area, where I covered the sideboard with a drop cloth and just added all the paint I owned.  I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to do these scenes, and lots of water and different size brushes to get the paint to flow.  I also used rags to create a mood on the borders.
Matthew Mead photographed the office for Where Women Create magazine in 2017.
You can see how the two landscapes anchor the back wall, creating a focal point behind my desk.
This was my favorite landscape painting.  I added a small building to the landscape,
trying to simulate a structure I saw at Versailles, in Marie Antoinette's Petite Trianon.
 Belvedere I believe it was called. Not exactly the same, but my interpretation.
These were all in the WWC magazine last year. 
Now this room has been repurposed as a guest bedroom.
  But I may be taking it back as my office this year as I miss the space.
This was a painting I did directly over another store bought painting, and it fit my living room so well.  One nice thing about painting pastorals is that they seem to fit any space, and you can add the colors that work well with your palette.  Imagine a pink sky if you had a lot of pink in your room. 
Here it is in progress, I start by doing the background with the horizon line separating the blue and the green. Then I build in the trees and highlight with light and dark shading. If I wanted to add some lilac or pink to the sky, you can imagine how different you can make the painting look just by doing that.
This large canvas was a fun painting project but a challenge.  I had to paint it outside.  Because it required so much paint, I used various paints, many of which were wall paints for the house.
Doing that also kept the colors within the palette I have going on in my home.
This huge canvas actually hides a door we don't use.
The room used to be so awkward, and this large painting served to make
 the room pretty and eliminate that door! Art with a purpose!
Most recently I painted a pastoral scene inside of my white piano. 
After painting the exterior to look like blue and white toile,
the idea came to me to put a landscape inside.
I have a feeling I will be painting more pastorals.  
You might want to give them a try yourself.
creating your own artwork is very satisfying. 
Look at how different the piano looks from plain white.
I even did a mini landscape on the music stand in the front of the piano!
 photo signature_zpsxi5q1w6r.png

13 comments:

  1. I WISH I HAD THE TALENT TO DO THIS ALSO. YOUR PAINTING ARE WONDERFUL. Love the piano

    ReplyDelete
  2. After our chat today I had to come over and see more. I'm going to wait for your book and cheer you on ;-))

    ReplyDelete
  3. Didn't you do some paintings on the splat backs of a set of chairs? I am planning to do that myself.....the painting inside the piano is a terrific idea.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are very good, Amy! There is no way I could paint scenes like those. Stick people maybe, but that's about it. ha ha

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's so fun to see your lovely scenes. They have such soothing romantic qualities, well done!xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. You know I am loving every one of these paintings! You have such a beautiful soft touch.
    Well done you!
    Hugs,
    Janet
    The Empty Nest

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. haha...love all the paintings but how sweet a surprise to also do the music stand in front of the piano! Love it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love every one. My favotire is the giant canvas that hides the door.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wonderful post! Your paintings are inspiring and beautiful. You are very creative.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You have a great style Amy. Loving your artwork! 😍

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have been in and out of town so much that I totally missed this post!....I LOVE your masterpieces!!!...you are so incredibly talented in so many ways....I so remember a very long time ago when you offered painting the facade of peoples' homes....the samples you presented were so beautiful! My heart skips a beat every time I see that magnificent painting over the sofa...had no idea that there was a door behind it!

    ReplyDelete

 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...