Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Small Paintings, Big Ideas

"Queen Anne's Dance"
6"x6" oil on linen
"Impossible Glow"
6"x6" oil on linen
"In The Meadow"
6"x6" oil on linen

These small paintings are pieces that I did to stir up some ideas, or maybe I should say bring them to the surface!  I'm very drawn to painting the fields and meadows of the midwest area.  One of my favorite wild flowers are the Queen Anne's Lace.  I love the rhythm of design they create as they sway through the meadows, it's almost as if they dance in the grasses.  One of my favorite lights to try and capture is a soft moody light.  So, the combination of these two elements were the inspiration for these ideas.  Although I used no reference for any of the 3 paintings here, I have a visual memory of these moments in my mind.  "Queen Anne's Dance" is a distinct place on the farm where I grew up and the other 2 are a  place we painted in Door County last summer in the rain.  
When structuring each of these paintings, I was primarily concerned with the large shapes in the initial lay in (even though in this 'tiny' case, the large shapes were small)  and used the strength of their dark values to support the sweep of the flowers through the field.  I've since, started a larger version of each of these paintings, although they are certainly taking on a life of their own!  Hopefully they'll be finished in the next week and I can post them soon. . . . .fingers are crossed!!

11 comments:

loriann signori said...

These are really beautiful Kami. It's so easy to see this could be a serious muse for you. I can't wait to see more.

Kami Mendlik said...

thanks so much loriann. I truly loved painting these. They were so vivid to me, I don't even understand where they came from . . . I'm working on one that will be a 40x40! Whew!

Unknown said...

Wow, Kami! I can't wait to see the larger versions. These are just lovely!!

jesusest@gmail.com said...

Very nice kami i love the way you soften edges,beautiful.

Gary Keimig said...

Wonderfully done Kami

Kami Mendlik said...

thanks you Joy, Jesus and Gary! I'm busy mounting a 30x30 as I type . Exciting, I can't wait to get the paint on this linen! I'm really having a good time with these pieces. Happy Painting all!

Unknown said...

Really nice Kami, the large pieces will look awesome!

Kami Mendlik said...

Thanks Sam! I'm starting a large one today! off to paint . . . :)

The Stationery Concierge said...

What a light touch these paintings have. Absolutely lovely.

Kami Mendlik said...

thank you so much Laurie!

steveryno said...

It's special to see this inception of your ideas that came together for the "Queen Anne's Lace Dance" painting I now have, Kami. I learned a lot from your description of the creative process and execution too.