Spring always inspires, right? So I thought why not do one last floral to celebrate the arrival of Spring.
My friend, Nicola of pmp (a wonderful artist and photographer) recently took a photograph of a vase filled with daffodils. Immediately I saw the painting – by adding a window and billowing curtain, a tabletop and table leg, and texturing the back wall it came together in a nice way.
Freshness of Spring is an oil pastel (14×11) that was painted on a gesso prepared hardboard with mostly Sennelier and Holbeins oil pastels – love them both and were perfect for this piece. A great learning piece with many first time painting experiences: a table leg, window and billowing curtain. The daffodils were a little difficult to paint as they were 95% varying shades of yellow and Senneliers are a bit messy, so I decided to do this piece with a more painterly feel.
I hope you have a wonderful Spring as we say goodbye to “Ole Man Winter!”
Oil Pastels by Mary 
The fresh breath of spring! Marvelous, Mary:)
Thank you Elena – happy that the warm temps are here to stay!
Mary no doubt you announced Spring in superb colours I think now it can officially start!
Thank you Doron – Happy Spring to you!
Thanks x
Beautiful still life Mary!
Thank you Tim!
How very pretty!
Thanks Lady!
Beautiful composition!
Thank you very much!
I love this painting, Mary!The gentle breeze through the curtain is a wonderful addition to the daffodils
Thank you Amy and so glad that you enjoyed the piece. I like your description of “gentle breeze.”
Beautiful Mary. I love the painterly feel and the daffodils have such sensitivity and “daffodilness”.
Thank you so very much for your beautiful and thoughtful comments!
i saw the first dad shoots of the season today, i adore daffodils and yours are just
lovely Mary. i especially liked the reflection of the vase on the table, perfectly executed!
Thank you, daffodils are the symbol that Spring is here – going into the 80’s today, couldn’t be happier. Thanks for noticing the reflection ~
Oh Mary I DO love this . You’ve captured that moment of freshness and delight when Spring can take her place indoors to be enjoyed .. through the billowy curtain … the gentle breeze brings teases ..
I love your painterly style here , it seems to suit these lush oil pastels so well ..
Oh Poppy you know how to make my day, so glad you enjoyed this piece. The painterly style really came about when the painting was nearly completed I noticed the daffodils were looking too stiff so taking a razor blade I went about scraping with additional paint. Happy with the more loose feel to the painting. Thank you as always for your generous comments!
A gentle breeze bringing us spring colours and the scent of flowers – lovely, Mary!
Thanks Ann-Christine!
The flowers are beautiful, but what also captured my attention is the table: how real it looks!! You are very gifted Mary!!! Thanks for sharing it with us 🙂 Lovely painting and I hope you will enjoy your spring!
Hi Maria, thank you very much for your generous comment. Oil pastels are great for painting wood grain, thanks for noticing!
Good to know!! Have a nice day!
You too, Mary! Have a wonderful Spring 🙂
Thank you so much! Going into the 80’s today, finally the warm temps are here to stay ~
The yellow is shining off the picture! Lovely 🙂
Thank you so much – I appreciate it. The colors in this photograph really isn’t doing the painting any justice, was a difficult piece to photograph for some reason.
Absolutely beautiful Mary. As fresh and bright as a spring day!
Thank you so much, but you know nothing beats your gorgeous photographs of your gardens!
I was about to make much the same comment as did Marina ! [I shall have to pinch her fiendishly.] 😉 Instead, I shall tell you that I do like that painting, Mary the Clever …
Thanks M.R. – ah well, our dear Marina beat you to it!!
Hi, Mary, this is beautiful. The pitcher of daffodils is the essence of spring, and I love the feel of the window being open – I can almost smell the sweet spring air!
Thank you Elisa for your nice comment – so great that you were able to imagine the breeze. It’s time for us to enjoy some warmer weather, don’t you think? We should all be going back to Florida, lol!
at first the image did not load, and i thought,’oh great..’ then i looked up and saw it and thought ‘it’s a photo of the work propped up on a table w/pretty flowers….’
but nooooooo, it’s one hundred percent you and brilliant! z
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So funny! Thanks Z for your generous comments on this piece. Those daffodils were interesting to paint, loved playing around with the curtain.
It has been a snowy day here so I can almost feel the soft warm breeze coming through your painting. Lovely!
Thank you Dorann – we all need some warmth after this winter. Glad I could send some your way!
Love it! Could spring finally be on its way? 🙂
Hi Susan – thanks very much!! And yes, Spring is here – we’ll be at 40 tonight, 50s tomorrow and then 82 on Thursday. Birds and gecko’s are all happy, just like us humans!
Soon, I will keep hoping for soon…. Cheers Mary
Just to let my readers know. I’m having a hard time with a health issue right now and now I can post nothing on my blog nor can I get any help from WordPress with whatever the problem is. So please pray for me that these issues will be resolved soon. Blessings to all, Natalie 🙂
Hi Natalie, so sorry to hear about your health – I’ll keep you in my prayers. Stay on WordPress, they will eventually come to your rescue.
How do I stay on them? I don’t even know how to talk with some one? Blessings, Natalie 🙂
I just love the way you create such wonderful textures! The curtains are lovely, as are the daffodils. My daffodils are finally poking their heads out of the ground! Spring has arrived and your painting brings me a smile.
Hi Rhonda, thank you very much for your gracious comments. Glad you enjoyed the textures, they are a lot of fun to make with oil pastels. Our daffodils are just about done and our perennials are starting to pop out of the ground – so happy to know that warm weather is here to stay.
Ah, Mary that is so beautiful!!! The billowing curtain brings a soft Spring breeze which the flowers seem to welcome. We’ve already said goodbye to ‘Ole Man Winter’ which was actually a bit uncertain whether to be cold or not this year! 🙂
Hi Marina, thanks so much. I’m so happy to read your reaction to the billowing curtain – originally had it hanging straight down and somehow that made the painting unapproachable and boring. This year we’ve had a very strange and cold winter – tonight will be 40, then in the 50s tomorrow and 82 on Thursday? Strange right? It sounds like you are experiencing some of the same thing – Mother Nature is so fickle.