Cedar Lee May 19th, 2010

I’m so happy with this painting–I just love looking at it and hope I get to keep it around for a little while!

Lotus Pond III

Oil on Canvas, 16″ x 36″ (3 separate 16″ x 12″ panels)

Here are the three panels closer up:

Left panel:

Center panel:

Right panel:

And what it looks like in a room:

Although I’ve always loved painting my Lotus series, this painting is my favorite so far.  What I love about this one is the vibrant sparkly effect I’ve created by using very thick splatters of yellow paint as accents.

It was fun to drizzle the paint playfully and just see what happened with it.

I also really like this little frog. 

• New Works: Flowers
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Cedar Lee March 10th, 2010

Finally–I’ve photographed the new Sunflower Heart oil paintings!  They will be available for sale as soon as the last one is done drying.

All are 16″ x 16″, oil colors on wood panels.

Sunflower Heart V

Sunflower Heart VI

Sunflower Heart VII

Sunflower Heart VIII

Sunflower Heart IX

Sunflower Heart X

Sunflower Heart XI

The sides of each panel are 1.5″ deep, with the painting continuing onto the sides.

They can be displayed alone or grouped.  My favorite arrangement is in a grid of 9, like so:

• New Works: Flowers
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Cedar Lee September 13th, 2009

New sunflower paintings!

I really love these.  They’re quite abstract and not entirely botanically accurate.  They’re based on real flowers, but are not so much about realism as they are about getting lost in the exquisite patterns in the hearts of my own personal fantasy sunflowers.  I had fun painting them.

The vibrant colors command your attention immediately, while the intricate details ask to be examined more closely.  They are quite intense, which I think makes them perfect for adding color and interest to a room that needs it.  When hung on the wall, they make an arresting focal point.  I love looking at them!

I most definitely have plans to make more of these in the future.

They are all oils on 16″ x 16″ x 1.5″ hardboard panels.

Sunflower Heart I

Sunflower Heart II

Sunflower Heart III

Sunflower Heart IV

They can be displayed in a row:

Or a grid:

Or in any way you want!

• New Works: Flowers
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Cedar Lee September 2nd, 2009

Here are my 6 latest Sunflower paintings.  The colors are vibrant and the paint is thick and textured!  All are oil on 16″ x 16″ hardboard panels.

Orange Aura

Starburst Blaze

Italian White III

Strawberry Blonde II

Jade II

Strawberry Blonde III

The sunflower paintings are fun because they can be mixed and matched.  There are so many options for how to display them.

• New Works: Flowers
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Cedar Lee August 19th, 2009

So, here’s the story with my Sunflower paintings.  I’ve made 26 in this series, and as of a few weeks ago, all 26 have been sold!  More recently, they’ve been selling very quickly, and now I have people waiting for new ones to be completed.

I have 2 pre-sold to a Utah art gallery, 6 more pre-sold to a client of my North Carolina gallery, and 9 more promised to them so they’ll have something to display in the coming months.  That’s a lot of sunflowers to paint, and I need to create them all before my baby is born in October!

I really should have even more than that available, but I’m just going to do what I can and it’ll have to suffice for now.  (I’m also supposed to paint more Lotus art and more Looking Up trees before October, but first things first!)  I’m going to get back to my studio routines as soon as possible after my little one arrives, but as a new mom, I’m not sure what to expect and I’d like to be realistic about the coming fall and winter.

At any rate, over the next month I’m going to attempt the highest possible level of productivity.  Wish me luck on the sunflower-oil-painting marathon I’m about to undertake!  (Now is not a good time for the muse to desert me.)

Here are 2 new ones I’ve just completed!  Both are 16″ x 16″, Oil on Hardboard Panels.

Lemon Eclair II

Lemon Eclair III

Like all of my Sunflower paintings, the edges of each panel are 1.5″ deep, with the painting continuing onto the edges.

I’m dreaming of what kind of sunflowers are coming next.  Time for me to get cracking!

• New Works: Flowers
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Cedar Lee August 7th, 2009

Here is the latest Lotus art, fresh off the easel!  This is a 3-panel painting, also known as a triptych.  It’s painted in oil on 3 separate 16″ x 12″ canvases.

Lotus Pond II

Here’s a close-up of each of the 3 panels.

One of my goals for this series is to keep the design elegantly simple but with flowing movement throughout and many points of interest.

I love working with this opulent color scheme of deep reds, olive greens, white and gold.  The colors in a real-life lotus pond are much more of a spring palette, but I feel that these colors fit well with the romantic mystique and rich symbolism of lotus flowers, which glow like jewels as they rise out of the muck.

Here are some ideas for where you might hang this piece of art:

An ongoing part of this series that I’m having a lot of fun with is the addition of the stylized, simplified forms of small, enchanting pond critters, such as beetles:

frogs:

and of course, the ubiquitous dragonflies:

• New Works: Flowers
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Cedar Lee July 22nd, 2009

11 of my Lotus paintings have gone to good homes, and  I now have 6 new ones available!

One of them is an older one re-worked, and 5 are brand new!

All are 20″ x 20″, Oil on Canvas.  Here they are so you can see each one in detail:

Lotus V

Lotus XIII

Lotus XIV

Lotus XV

Lotus XVI

Lotus XVII

I’ve tried to make these paintings very consistent stylistically, so that any of them can be displayed with any others.  You can mix and match them, hang them individually, in rows, columns or grids.

My favorite way to display them is in a row of 3.

They will look best as part of a decor that includes warm earthy tones like greens, golds, or reds.

These paintings are modern and elegant, decorative but also symbolic.

More paintings in this series are in the works and will hopefully be released over the next few weeks.  I have plans to do more on square canvases, and one or 2 new triptychs are likely as well.

Yesterday I harvested garlic from my garden, which I planted last fall.  It was very easy to grow!  I got 14 new bulbs from the one I planted.

I also have lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries (still!), and a few peppers.

Delicious!

• Garden , New Works: Flowers
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Cedar Lee July 8th, 2009

Out of all the Lotus art I’ve made, this painting, Lotus V, is the only one not yet sold.  The reason for this is that all the people who bought the Lotus paintings bought several at a time, mixing and matching them to display as sets, and in the end this one was left over.

These paintings look great when displayed together (especially, I think, in a row of 3) and nobody has ever bought just one.  So this little straggler needs some companions before it can reach its maximum potential.

But the style of my Lotus art has grown somewhat since I painted this one, so I decided to re-work it to make it match my more recent pieces.  Here’s what the old version of the painting looked like, before I re-worked it with new layers of paint.

Here is Lotus V after re-working.

I like it much better now–the colors are more vibrant and saturated, there is more contrast between darks and lights, more detail, and overall it has a more smooth, streamlined look.  There is more “pop!”

It also obviously needed a dragonfly.  I can’t believe I didn’t realize the need for a dragonfly before!

It’s going to fit in very nicely with the new Lotuses I’m working on now.  I’ve finished one, I’m almost done with a second, and I have plans drawn out for 8 more after that.  It’s just a matter of putting in the studio time–pictures of the new Lotuses are forthcoming.

Remember Towering Trunk II, which I made a couple weeks ago to replace the sold Towering Trunk?  Well, Towering Trunk II has already sold as well!

I’m debating whether to paint a Towering Trunk III, or something else.  It’s clear I need another tree painting.

I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head and a lot of projects going on in the studio right now.

• Art Plans , New Works: Flowers
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Cedar Lee May 5th, 2009

Here they are!  For those of you who have been waiting to see the new Sunflower art, thanks for your patience.

Now, I can’t take credit for the creativity of these titles–all of these are actual names of varieties of sunflowers that can be found in seed catalogs.  I LOVE the names!

Without further ado, here they are–all 16″ x 16″, oil colors on hardboard panels, with the painting continued onto the 1.5″ deep wooden sides.

Apricot Twist

Prado Red

Ikarus

Indian Blanket

Peach Passion

Red Sun V

Jade

Strawberry Blonde

Prado Gold

These 9 paintings can be displayed individually, grouped in any number and configuration, or hung in a grid, like this.

This artwork will add a sunny pizazz to someone’s decor.  (“Sunny pizazz,” how about that descriptor?)

They can add color and punch to a neutral, light and airy atmosphere:

Or they can become the centerpiece for a decor with warm, rich earth tones.

I just came across this blog post of an online acquaintance of mine, Maggie Stiefvater.  She’s a published young adult fiction writer, and I think she’s awesome.  In her post, she talks about how external challenges make it hard enough to be a creative professional, without letting your internal challenges stand in your way too.

Although she’s a writer and speaking to an audience of other writers, it’s amazing how much her message applies to visual artists as well.  I believe that everything I’ve done for myself is a direct result of having a positive attitude, and every time I have become stalled, in the development of my artwork and my business, it’s because I’ve given in to negative thinking.

Click to read Maggie’s blog.

• New Works: Flowers , Other Artists & Admired People
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Cedar Lee March 5th, 2009

I’ve finally finished that work in progress I showed you weeks ago!  It is intended as the first in a new series.

The Iris series will be sister to the Lotus series.  While the Lotus series features a rich, jewel-tone palette with fall colors like deep red, olive green and gold, the Iris series will have a decidedly springtime palette of pastel blues, deep purples, bright greens, yellow, and white.

One of the defining traits of my floral paintings is a realistic, albeit stylized depiction of the flowers themselves, while the background includes abstract elements and whimsical details.  Where the Lotus series has dragonflies and golden swirls, the Iris series will have white butterflies and simplistic sun-like orbs.

I think this is a good start and I’m excited to see where it takes me.

Iris I

30″ x 30″, Oil on Canvas

Here’s what it looks like in a room!

Some details:

I leave for my vacation 6 days from now!  Today I finally nailed down the arrangements with our house-sitter, which is a huge relief.  It’s good to know a trusted friend will be staying at our house the whole time, keeping our home secure and caring for our pets.

Next on my list is laundry, house cleaning and of course packing!  Our passports are in order, we have our plane tickets, and it looks like everything is coming together nicely, despite the impulsive nature of this trip.

So, in about a week’s time I’ll appear to drop off the face of the earth for a little while, but I promise that any inquiries you email to me will be answered as soon as I return!

• New Works: Flowers
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