Stone Wisteria completed – A Piece a Week 5

 by Liz Powley 18 comments
A Piece a Week 2013 Paint Party Friday

This challenge is really working for me. Here I am five weeks into the year with five new art works to my name. The first one was just a journal page, but the rest have been full blown works. I’m totally excited.

This week I finished the weird throw together work I started on a whim while being frustrated regarding finishing a portrait of my eldest daughter. There is something to be said regarding the difference between precise work and free work. There is enjoyment in both, but sometimes the realistic and precise work need a break.

So here we have ‘Stone Wisteria’…

Stone Wisteria final

Stone Wisteria, acrylic and stones on canvas, approx. 460 x 460 mm.

This has been a distinctly weird painting. I had no idea what it was going to be when I started and just threw paint and stones down onto the canvas. At one point a friend saw it and she said it reminded her of wisteria, so I looked up wisteria, got an idea of what the leaves and flowers look like and went for it.

I kinda missed the right wisteria in the flowers. They look more like native wisteria, a plant called hardenbergia here in Australia – the flowers are more sparse and thinner than traditional wisteria and I seem to have channelled them. If I was to do it again, I would either aim for hardenbergias in which case the leaves would be a different shape, or make the stones spread wider to create the larger wisteria flowers.

In any case, for me it is the colours in this piece that do it for me. There are also a variety of textures as this canvas used to be ‘Herpy‘. First time I’ve ever painted over a painting I didn’t like.

Stone Wisteria closeup 1

The purple really did it for me.

Don’t forget to visit the other Piece-a-weekers. There is some fantastic productivity happening out there. Also, drop round to the Facebook group and knock on the door, we’d love to have you join the challenge.

And I’m also submitting this to Paint Party Friday as it is the only painting I’m going to get done this week. Don’t forget to drop by and check out the party!

Best wishes,
Liz