Freesia Jubilee

'Freesia Jubilee' . 9" x 11" . oil on linen
© 2013 kay eneim
SOLD

The colors in those freesia from the market were quite beautiful! and different from any I had seen before. They were the inspiration for this painting.
I'm especially drawn to those little hops tree flowers, too.

This painting is available through The Howard/Mandville Gallery's 23rd Annual Invitational Small Works Show and Sale.

My painting, 'Peony', will also be available through this show.

Preview of artwork begins October 11th. The reception and sale of artwork will begin on October 19th and will continue through October 31st.

Delphinium Blue

'Delphinium Blue' . 14" x 18" . oil on linen panel
© 2013 kay eneim
available

Dried Delphinium, Hops tree blossoms, and a wee little quail egg...

Cherries & Oriental Jar

"Cherries and Oriental Jar" . oil on wood panel
© 2013 kay eneim


Rainier Cherries... wouldn't it be nice if they were in season a little bit longer?!

Peony, Too

'Peony, Too' . 4" x 6" . oil on linen panel
© 2013 kay eneim

I am usually swamped in May and the beginning of June when the peonies are in bloom... and am unable to get in the studio to paint them with any time! This year was different.
And I'm so glad they are available here... through the markets.

But that's about it now for peonies... until next year!

Peony

'Peony' . 6" x 8" . oil on copperplate
© 2013 kay eneim
SOLD


Peonies... glorious peonies!
And every year I want to paint them, but haven't...  for many reasons. Not the case this year!

Home... Oh... Sweet Home...

The first vaseful of flowers to go into the new studio... they're from an incredible blooming desert tree, a Hops tree. The blossoms cluster together... a little like hydrangea flowers, but not.

They just seem to arrange themselves in a vase without any help. I don't know why I haven't seen these blossoms around the desert landscapes before this!

Now it feels like home.

Of Zurbarán's 'Agnus Dei'

work in progress
"Of Zurbarán's 'Agnus Dei'" . 6" x 8" . oil on copper
© 2013 kay eneim

Every year during Lent, I paint an old master's work that focuses on an image related to Christ's Passion.

This little painting is a work in progress of Zurbarán's original work that was 15" x 24" and titled "Agnus Dei". It's dramatic effect has always had an impact on me. I imagine him painting a real lamb laid on an altar-type structure in a dark studio with the natural light directed 'just so'... and consider it his way of explaining Christ's Passion that is both scriptural and allegorical... much like C.S. Lewis' image of the lion in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Francisco Zurbarán's work mainly consisted of religious subjects for monasteries and churches in southern Spain.

He was born in Fuente de Cantos, Spain on November 7, 1598 and died in 1664.

An Artist's Signature

I know, it has been a long while since posting... the subscribers to 'Impasto!' know a little as to why : -)

In the meantime, I decided to write a bit about an artist's signature.

There are those who like to sign their paintings with prominence (Norman Rockwell comes to mind), and those who, for the most part, only sign on the back... and then there are those artists who like to sign in an inconspicuous, but visible, place on the front so as not to draw attention to the signature. I tend to do the latter.

There is a way and reason I sign my religious paintings... on the front... that goes back to a symbol for 'Ave Maria' that is centuries old. Perhaps you are familiar with it... it is written with a superimposed 'A' over an 'M'.

I saw this symbol some years ago in a little chapel built on the top of a hill in Portofino, Italy. The 'Ave Maria' was beautifully designed into an altar railing gate.

For signing the religious paintings, I use that ancient symbol... with a little change to it by adding three dots over the letters... to symbolize God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit crowning Our Blessed Mother as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Ave Maria!