wildflowers in Colorado

I spent the month of June in one of the most beautiful parts of Colorado, the Pikes Peak region.

This has been a good year for wildflowers, lots of rain and sunshine. A good flower summer in the mountains means you should expect the rain to come every afternoon, sometimes with hail and a black storm, followed by a rainbow and more bright sun until late in the day.

I found these bright purple and blue flowers growing wild in the front yard of my Mom and Dad's home high in the mountains. One month ago, my Dad died in his home while I was there and surrounded by my family. Every drawing I do these days is tinged with the sadness and thoughts I have of love and loss.

I wrote in my last posts about the difference between drawing from a photo or drawing from a live model. I realize now that my writing was much more about the death of my father than about the fading of a live flower that I was planning to paint.

Acrylic and colored pencils 14"x11" experimental, click on the image to see it larger

Sacred Blue Windows

That's the title I gave to this painting.

I painted this in while in Texas in the days following the famous Waco Iris Show.

The painting now resides in the home of a private collector in Waco where it rightly belongs.

Acrylic on canvas. 36x48"

Bluebells!

Bluebells are all over the yard this week, it has been rainy and cool to keep them happy.

These are the wild flower variety, Virginia Bluebell, they only last a few days. 

I have been down with the flu myself this past week, and yet felt just good enough to get a sketch made before the flowers wither with the brighter sunny days of spring.

I am in love with cobalt blue. (again if you click on the image you will see it larger)

A little blue

Another small study of the blue scilla. These are tiny flowers, about as big as an american dime. To observe, I had to  get in really close almost touching my nose to them.

This title has nothing to do with my frame of mind!  I am in a great mood, excited about color and paint and nature.

Blue

Another song title from Joni Mitchell, but I am thinking of this one; 

"Blue on blue

Sky's in your eyes"

I picked a handful of the scilla siberica from my front garden. I wanted to paint the intense blue that has fascinated me recently.

 This little sketch was made just minutes ago. I set a few blossoms down on a white background to study closely, they are very tiny. Separately, they have many variations of pale blues, deep cobalt blue, and violet. But when thousands of them bloom across the grass, the magic of bright spring blue happens.