So my brother was getting married and my sis-in-law to be asked if I'd do a painting of a calla lily for them. She loves calla lilies, they were the focus flower of the wedding and I agreed to do it. It was a wedding gift and it was probably the best way possible for me to get back into it. I hadn't painted or even attempted to since Dad got sick and passed away.
Yes, it's somewhat phallic. It's a flower. Come on. The thing about this was that I needed it to be somewhat representational of what I was actually painting. Meaning, people needed to look at it and know it was a calla lily. This wasn't really the time to get abstract.
The trick was getting the color right. Not all whites are created equal. Color is an elusive thing. I don't have anything pure white on this painting but I had to go with some really light mixtures. While some of the detail work required brushes I put most of the color on with palette knives. It's a technique I've grown to like quite a bit and have used on other works. I think the way the color goes on is really interesting... and when you start mixing slabs of color the patterns that emerge do a lot to bring it to life.
It was exactly the right situation to get me back in the game. It had the emotional resonance to pull me out of the rut. It was for family and I was really able to put my heart into it.
And it turned out to be a rather nice painting as well.
