YOU know WHO says Practice Makes Perfect!  Well, I'm working on perfection painting hydrangeas!  They are so special to me, very nostalgic memories at my grandma's out in the country in Arkansas and even at my mom's house.  They grow very large there.  In Baton Rouge, I struggle with getting them to grow at all!!  

In 2018 at my first Stephanie Birdsall workshop and I asked her to show me how to paint hydrangeas.  I didn't get it totally but gave it my best shot!  Here's that effort!

Two years ago I decided to give them a try again!  Stephanie saw them and told me she saw 'Mickey Mouse Ears'.  So I made some adjustments to  this painting (without those ears!).  Looking pretty good, don't you think?

So here we are in 2024 and I have a BUMPER crop of Hydrangeas in my garden!  They make me so happy that I don't want to cut them.  So, I thought, I should try painting them in plein air in the garden.  Pretty soon bugs and heat made me go indoors!  I finally gave in and cut off some blossoms with leaves to take to my nice, air conditioned art studio!  This one is starting to take shape, definitely getting better,  but needs more work - which I will put in.

Meantime, I started another painting because the above painting was too wet to keep going.  This one is just started and has a long way to go.  The pink flowers were drying out and the colors are just gorgeous!!  I think this one will make a great painting!

And last but not least, I took an Ann Warner workshop this past weekend and I told her all I wanted to do was finish a Hydrangea painting.  Now, we had 3 days and many of the artists finished 2 or more paintings but  Not Me!   I took all the time to get this one right.  I still have some minor work to do on a few things but all in all, I was happy.  I just needed dedicated time with no distractions to focus in. The good thing was I understood the colors and the form of the blossoms.  I just needed time to make it happen.  And some prodding and encouragement  from Ann!!  Here's the most recent painting - 2024 Hydrangea!

There you go!  I think if I paint a few more this year I may finally had a handle on the luscious, gorgeous Hydrangeas!!

You know, I think it is time to revisit all these paintings, finish them, and show them together sometime!  Yes, I think that is a great idea!!