A Beautiful Flower Named Lily
Lilies are such beautiful flowers and they come in so many wonderful
colors! I have several growing in my yard and I know you must have some
as well. So why not put them in a painting? That’s exactly what I decided
to do. There are two paintings of peach lilies in the gallery that are very
special to me. These flowers once grew in the yard of my very special great
aunt named Sheba McMullen. From her yard they were moved to her
daughter’s yard, Virginia Anne Penn, and from there to my yard. So they’ve
had their share of traveling. Each year when they bloom I am always
reminded of this wonderful lady and all of the great times I spent visiting at
her house with my cousin, Judy Wiley. Aunt Sheba was a wonderful cook
serving homemade biscuits, eggs, and sausage every single morning for
breakfast. She also made the best yeast rolls you could ever hope for! (I
have her recipe and I make this delicious bread every Thanksgiving and
Christmas. My family loves them!) Judy and I spent many summers riding
horses, hiking in the fields, dancing in the living room to the latest songs,
visiting the baby pigs at the hog barns, watching the peacocks strut their
feathers, catching insects for 4-H, talking about boys, and constantly
giggling over everything! All the while, hoping each day could last a little
longer so that we could have more time to have fun. We definitely did not
have a care in the world!
Just as these special days did not last long enough, neither do the beautiful
lily blooms. They are here today and gone tomorrow. So the best way to
capture their beauty for longer than one day is with a camera or a painting
on canvas. I decided to do both. After taking many pictures it is often a
problem knowing which one to choose. I wanted to paint a pair of lilies that
could be hung together, and I wanted a close up view of the petals on each
flower. Finally my choice was narrowed down to these two. With this in
mind, I started to plan my composition and then begin the paintings. These
are the finished originals.
They are painted using traditional oils on stretched canvas. The prints are available for purchase in the gallery: Print 1 and Print 2. If you love flowers, especially lilies,
this might be a good choice for your home. When matted, the prints can be
framed in a traditional 16 x 20 inch frame. Horizontal or vertical hanging is
possible as well.
