Light relief

I haven't been doing anything new of my own, but still very busy on the 'group' project . Things have been a bit blue and heavy going lately so I'm putting this complementary-to-blue summery poppy picture up (even though we're moving well into autumn here), in case anyone pops in and is giving up on me. This is a big - about 1200 x 800cm - oil painting that someone commissioned last year - he very specifically wanted poppies of all colours, shapes and sizes, therefore any horticultural experts out there who might be puzzled at the varieties of species all growing together in the same patch and time, give me a bit of artistic licence, if you will. I hadn't painted flowers in oils before, not being a great fan of the genre, and had no idea how to go about it - especially on such a large scale! I gathered hundreds (or scores probably...) of pictures from magazines and internet, it being this time of year and not a poppy to be found, and placed flat blobs of colour around the canvas as an underpainting, before working in the background and then each individual blossom. I'm not entirely happy with it... it looks a bit like wallpaper to me, but Tom is, fortunately, and it really dominates his living room!

Watching poppies grow

Here are two very satisfying pages from my journal - not so much the drawings, but the fact that I actually planted the seedlings, which I don't always get around to, and they came up so magnificently. I've had poppies in my house for three weeks now, with new buds forming constantly. These should remind me to keep on sowing and reaping - the rewards are great! The Easter eggs are still hanging around my middle, and my son's shoes lying on the sitting room floor, provoking housewifely grumbles, will maybe one day bring waves of nostalgia for the good old days.