Midnight Romance
The Crow, The Purple Rose, and the Full Moon at Midnight
In this week’s newsletter, I am sharing new paintings, The Midnight Romance Series, and a few new mini butterfly paintings! As well as a few new studio photos!
“Meet me at midnight
in the forest of my dreams,
we’ll make a fire
and count the stars
that shimmer above the trees.”
―Christy Ann Martine
Did you know some flowers “sleep”? When I was researching flowers for my book, The Magic of Flowers, I was not surprised to read this! As I have noticed, maybe you have too, that some flowers go to bed at night; they close their petals, sort of like hugging themselves to sleep. The clovers do it too! Though it seems roses stay awake through the night :) A great flower to add to a curated moon garden!
As for crows, they might be up at night too, probably doing silly things. I read about them and how they sleep in spurts, maybe only a few hours at a time.
With my recent crow visits, I was so inspired to paint another crow. This time with the finishing touches of oil paints!
I had a lot of resistance with this painting at first- the whole series, but mainly the crow. I had this open space around her; I didn’t have a big plan, and I painted leaves-nope, moonflower and leaves- still no, then finally these wintery branches-yessss!
I love the gold oil paint with branches and crow, but what do you think?
Painting the moon- always dreamy; it’s so fun, calming, and you can add cool blues and purples and warm whites; love it! This little painting is done with acrylics first, dried, then oils!
For the purple rose, I used one of my rose photos from my garden, a rose that is white, but just used my own color palette to create a sort of otherworldly, whimsical vibe!
These three paintings will be available on my website on July 24th (odd timing for a wintry-themed trio, or do these colors keep you feeling cool during the heatwave?)
I hope you’re enjoying my new paintings a little bit of a switch-up in what I offer; I know that maybe a year ago I shared that I was not offering originals anymore (or at least not at that time). But as time goes on, I find myself coming back to original paintings over and over again. There is something so fulfilling about creating a painting. I love the texture of the paint, the quiet process, and the thought that it belongs to someone out there, someone special. And when I am painting something from nature, I feel more connected to that being too.
I recently started these mini 4x4-inch butterfly paintings in all oils, alla prima style, which, if you are not familiar, is a painting done in all one sitting! I love this because the flow state keeps flowing; I have my colors ready to go, and with oils, a little goes a long way, so I don’t have to stop-grab more paint, go.
There are so many different species of butterflies, and it’s helping me use a wider range of color palettes, some of which I don’t normally choose.
It’s also cool to learn about each butterfly too.
I’m really loving these so far! Do you have a butterfly species suggestion you’d like to see me paint?
If you saw my Instagram post about the first butterfly painting, The Question Mark Butterfly, you may have noticed I repainted the background! While I liked the original, I really love this one! The pinks, orange, and mauve-beautiful!
Check out this GOLD!
Lastly, I wanted to share a few studio photos with you, since it’s where I spend a lot of time creating my paintings! I moved my computer, printer, and desk into my bedroom for a separation of the two spaces; this has helped so much! I am not moving paintings off my computer desk now to type to you :)
Thank you so much for reading! I am always so grateful for your support! Have a beautiful weekend!
Maria
Moody Midnight Romance! 💙🖤💙 Your art is simply gorgeous!