“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Splendid, an oil pastel (10×8) painted on cream tinted Mi-Teintes pastel paper using Senneliers, Holbeins and Mungyo-Gallery oil pastels. This was an interesting painting to develop, I was nearly done – when all of a sudden the background screamed “change me” (had to wait until the end, lol). So a few good scrapes with a razor took many layers of paint off and on came some darks to the lower right-hand side of the background of prussian blue, magenta and sap green – hopefully giving the flower what it needed to standout.
Thanks for checking in – have a wonderful week ahead. Click onto the image for a larger view.
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Oil Pastels by Mary 
So beautiful!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the painting!
I did! You are welcome! 🙂 🙂 🙂
this is Beautiful!!
Thank you so much Leyla – I really appreciate it!
Very pretty and great choices of colors, dear Mary! Thanks so much for sharing!… all my best wishes. Aquileana 🙂
Hi Aquileana, thank you so much for your lovely words of encouragement – is always appreciated.
This is GORGEOUS Mary.
Thank you so much for your enthusiastic response to the piece, means a lot!!
In the spotlight with a shadowy orchestra of rich colour your flower is a real beauty Mary . You’re a star !
Thank you Louise for your colorful words that sing like poetry, they always mean a lot to read and savor. I truly appreciate your thoughts on this piece. I apologize for taking so long to get back to you, I’ve been recovering from a shoulder injury and it took much longer than I ever thought – I’m just starting to get back to blogging and creating. Looking forward to seeing what you’ve been up too!
It screamed! It looks too beautiful and delicate to indulge in screaming. 😉 Do you do before and after shots sometimes? I would like to see the before scream as well as the after scream, but maybe the very thought of it makes you want to scream.
Hi Gallivanta, thank you for your thoughts and feedback on this painting. Sorry it’s been so long in receiving my reply, it’s taken some time for my shoulder to recover and I had to stay off blogging for a while, as well as painting. But I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things. I’m in a habit of taking photographs of my work throughout the whole creative process, it lets me assess the painting/drawing and make changes as I go as well as provide documentation for my records. I do have the before and after photograph, you’d see just way a whole lot of screaming went on (lol)!!!
LOL. I am glad you are healing. 🙂
You are a master with that razor!! Beautiful. 🙂
Thanks Rita!! The razor was my go-to for a lot of the development in this painting.
The brightness in this actually “bursts” with light!
Very cool response to this painting Leslie – thanks for your thoughts on the light!!
Splendid, Mary.
Thank you so much Cynthia!!
Beautiful layers, love the details and changing colors of red of the layers. 🙂
Thanks Amy – appreciate that you noticed the many layers. I really enjoyed developing the flower petals on this piece, four different colors in the red family were used.
Well crafted, gorgeous colours, terrific painting. 🎋
Thank you Genie for your lovely response to the painting – I really appreciate it.
Wow, I love it! So delicate and still so rich… I love the colors and the lighting and also love the luscious flower in the smaller vase.
Thank you so much for your generous comment on this painting – I enjoyed reading your reaction to those areas that caught your eye. Thanks again.
Wonderful painting.
Thank you very much Fiona – hope you have a lovely weekend.
So much I love about this painting and your work. I love the lighter colours in the background and the darker colours in the foreground. The vase is so beautiful and delicate. The contrast again of light and dark, the touches of red on the petals. Beautiful Mary.
Hi Joanna, thanks very much for your read on this painting – always love receiving feedback through your artistic eye. It was a great piece to work out, was afraid the vase wouldn’t have enough substance, but in the end it had the form I wanted without taking anything away from the flowers. Thanks again and hope you are well. Have a great weekend.
Lovely! I would like a bouquet of these on my dining room table.
Thank you so much Ruth – love your response!
Beautiful work! I love these colors.
Thank you Matthew, I really appreciate your thoughts on this painting.
Lovely work!
Thank you so much!
Welcome!
Hi Dear Mary….I love the quote and the image. Have been away for a while and so will now be catching up with my own blog and others – Have missed seeing your glorious work. Janet. 🙂
Thank you my friend – was wondering how you’ve been. Glad to see you back and looking forward to catching up with you on your blog. Thank you as always for your lovely words!!
You are most welcome…I always enjoy reading your blogs. Janet:)
Hi Mary, here’s the second stanza of a Valentine’s Day poem I wrote for Maureen last year:
“Seagull Sill’ is our window garden.
A roaring Welsh dragon stands guard.
A tall amaryllis queens it with her clustered blooms
of deep-throated delicate pink,
a children’s windmill
twizzing in homage at her feet
as the estuary whispers through a crack.”
How I’d love to place your gorgeous flower on ‘Seagull Sill’ for her next year.
My very best,
Paul
So beautiful Paul – your writing is a magical experience. A wonderful compliment, thank you so very much!
Beautiful work, Mary! 😀
Thank you Jackie!
very beautiful! delicate but intense!
Hello my friend, thank you for your lovely thoughts!
Splendid: exactly right! 🙂
Happy new week, my dear Mary! 🙂
Thanks Marina – this was a fun project to work out. Hope you have a wonderful day!
That’s a very nice piece Mary. Well done.
Cheers,
Frank
Thank you Frank – I really appreciate your kind words!
Take out the comma from your title and you have my comment. And, photography has been described as painting with light. You do it for real
So cool Derrick – thank you very much for your thoughts and compliment.
This is visual poetry! And yes, it’s interesting to see how an appropriate background enhances the main subject. And the light…it’s all about the light…
robert
Awesome Robert – really enjoyed your words, “visual poetry.” The light within this piece was a lot of fun to create, I think the paper tint itself helped a lot in this area of development. Thank you so much!
Wonderful work Mary.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Obviously, the best ideas come late. I absolutely love this, Mary!
You are so right, thank you so much Audrey!
stunning! oh my gosh. love this.
the LIGHT!!! you made magic with the light Mary! it is gorgeous. the flower is so lovely, the vase wonderful, and you have mastered the hardest thing… those pesky backgrounds!!!!!! Beaut. cheers, debi
Thanks very much Debi, love your read on the painting. I nearly gave up on it, couldn’t quite get the feel – left it for a while, then giving it one last look I finally saw where I was to go with the painting. Thank you for all your encouragement and support.
my pleasure! 🙂
Magnificent!
Thank you so much Cynthia!
Beauty which speaks for itself!
Lovely words and really appreciated Ashok!
Exquisite image, Mary. I love the changes you made. The dark colours really work so well to set off the rest of the painting. 🙂
Wow Sylvia your comments are so awesome – you got what I was going after. Very cool! Thanks very much. Stay safe with all the storms/rain coming your way!
Thanks, Mary. Hoping to get to the gym and back before the rains start. It’s just dripping at the moment. Have a lovely week. xx
This is beautiful.
Thank you Nicodemas!!
Leonardo was really on to something important, I am going to think about this a bit.
Thank you Charlie – it was a good quote, hit me as soon as I read it.
I cannot even imagine having the skill to create something this beautiful. 🙂
Hi Judy, thank you for such a generous compliment – glad you enjoyed the painting. Have a wonderful week ahead, perhaps you’ll get some of the rain they are projecting.
Oh don’t you just “love” when your painting starts to scream that it needs to change the very minute you think you are done with it? But you did a great job (as usual) and the whole painting looks great! Love the petals- so delicate.
You are so right Jess! Thanks so much and glad you enjoyed the piece.
Still creating beauty, despite the pain 🙂 🙂
Thanks so much Jo! I think I way over did it doing this painting, I paid for it yesterday and today. I’ll probably have to take a break from painting for the next couple of days. Hope you have a lovely week ahead.
Once again you have accomplished softly lit beauty.
So happy to see you Dorann, thank you – loved your description.
Pure poetry!! Splendid is splendid.
Good one Susan!! Thanks very much ~
Stunning Mary, really beautiful.
Wonderful surprise Leanne – thanks for visiting and leaving such a lovely comment! It means a lot and is really appreciate.
Oh….so beautiful, Mary! I love the colors your chose. Well done!
Hi Jill, thanks very much – your generous encouragement is always appreciated.
Perfect title!
Thank you, much appreciated!
Splendid, Mary! You really have a beautiful style and crazy gorgeous feel for flowers. The background was worth the effort. The flower’s colors are juxtaposed brilliantly in front.
Thank you Resa for your thoughts on this painting, appreciate your compliments – they mean a lot. Love your read on the painting, one of the first decision points to make was how to be sure the flowers stayed forward – thanks for noticing.
Hi Mary, A beautiful flower done beautifully. You make the pastels sing.
Great surprise Kerry, thanks for visiting and leaving such a wonderful comment – you know I really appreciate it!
I am delighted not only to see this beautiful painting, but to know that you know how to listen to a background when it screams…. 🙂
Ha Cynthia – so funny, thank you! Not only was it screaming, “re-do,” but stop already I’m done!!
Wow Mary, this is beautiful. I love the background!
Thanks so much Catherine. I had my doubts on the final background, but was totally surprised that a decent one materialized considering the tooth of the paper surface was long gone. I really appreciate your generous feedback!
Doing flower petals in such a way that they reflect their delicate nature is tough. Yours look as if they could float away. Beautifully executed! 🙂
Thank you so much Victo for your generous feedback and description – means a lot.
Very beautiful.
Thanks so much Lee!