Calla Lily Painting

For the past couple of months I have been working on paintings that focus on nature and my calla lily painting was the last one in this series.  Since Spring of this year I have noticed calla lilies and admired their striking beauty and height as they proudly stand above most of the plants in gardens.  I have grown them in the past but do not have them in my garden  presently.  When I think of calla lilies and art it reminds me of Diego Rivera’s paintings that include them. I wonder if they are a flower native to Mexico.

This painting  was created just simply from my love of nature and plants.  There was not a special  technique or grand plan for it.  I have noticed something lately with my painting though.  For many years I painted only realistic images.  In the past three years I set out to force myself into trying to create abstract art.  It was very difficult for me at first but then I began to enjoy it and it was very freeing.  I still revert back to creating realistic images and since I also illustrate books for children, it is necessary for me to do so.  The dawn of realization though is that I have begun to see how creating abstract images will also help opening your vision into how realistic images might be created.   Instead of accepting verbatim  the way you see them in front of you, how could the same image be represented instead of copying the view you see?  What is the essence of what you are trying to show in the painting of your subject matter; the color, the design represented in the lines, etc?  I want to explore this more in my painting.  Each painting represents creative growth.  Some are better than others but each one is a step towards more introspection into creative process.

Calla Lilies