I don’t know a painter who doesn’t love to see photos of their artwork beautifully shared in a home or public space, do you?

Sometimes I’m lucky to live near enough to where my paintings are displayed, or am related to or friends with the new owner that I get to see them in their new home.

In this case, Leeanne Seaver (Wonder Woman of word and camera) is a dear friend and wrote this beautiful blog post, the sky inside, linked about the making and new life of her Scottish sunset painting, ‘Wolfy’s Sunset’.

if you’re as fascinated as I am with the powerful relationships that can happen because of art and how creativity can knit us together, then please jump to Leeanne’s blog post. You’ll enjoy it. But do me a favor and pretend I’m not wearing Crocs. And maybe that I fixed up my hair. It was a Covid-19-outside-art-pick-up (Funny, but I don’t think I’ll put those pics of me here. Smile). Here’s an excerpt from Leeanne’s “the sky inside”:

It would be hard to articulate how I felt when she told me what she’d finally settled on as the subject of her next painting–the one that was for me …
… It was a tough choice, given that she had to pick from amongst a thousand or so images on my photography blog, and the only input I gave her was headed in a completely different direction. That she picked this one (only a half dozen or so duly-credited photos on that site aren’t mine) without knowing how special it is to me just blew me away.

It’s true. I was painting something for Leeanne in creative repayment for the magazine-worthy photography that she did for my daughter’s magical wedding, and we were headed in a totally different direction with choice of subject.

I had seen her friend Wolfy’s photo of this sunset last spring and dismissed it as a painting subject, but then I found it again in the autumn and was struck by it. I had changed, my mood had changed, I don’t know why, but I was 100% invested in it the second time around. I wanted to try and capture the light and play with the incredibly vibrant colors, and after months of staying home, I needed a visual vacation.

Painter’s Playlist for this piece? Chopin and Blackmore’s Night

Sky day. The medium is Oleogel, used sparingly.

I carefully constructed the painting to follow archival rules, like fat over lean (use higher fat oils only in finishing layers) and played off of a Transparent Oxide Earth Red second layer.

The tricky bit was that the painting subject was dark and the whole painting could easily sink and become drab or with this warm sky, garish. In the end, I was excited to find that it looked colorful enough to hold its own during the daylight hours, but really comes to life and almost emits its own light in the twilight.

Leeanne came to pick it up, where it is keeping her company while it thoroughly dries (6 mos.) before being varnished and framed.

Here it is again in her beautiful, artsy home.

This sort of connection and appreciation is a happy reward for my artistic compulsions. We Art Passionates get a little tear of understanding in our eye when art and collector prove to get on so well together.

Grazie for everything, Leeanne.

What Every Painter Wants