American Lotus

Diane Mannion, AMERICAN LOTUS, 6x6" oil

Painted with the Light Chasers at the edge of the lotus pond near the Jacaranda Library in Venice, FL.  This complex landscape forced me to simplify while at the same time paint from imagination although the subject was right in front of me.  It was impossible to capture so much detail.  The pandemonium of lily pads, flowers, colors, lights, and shadows caused me to visually rearrange and organize the scene in order to create my own impression.  The longer I stood  by the pond, the more I began to see and when that Great White Heron appeared... I just had to paint him in!  This complex little painting is simply an illustration of a colorful morning in May.  And every other artist painting around the pond created their own unique vision... ordering chaos into paint on canvas.  

Polka Dot Girl

Diane Mannion, Polka Dot Girl, 8x6" oil

Painted for the Daily Paintworks Polka Dot Challenge.  

Too rough for this little girl to use her swim tube! Instead, she spent the day digging a hole to China.  Beaches are a wealth of inspiration, although some figures would take too much paint (gallons!) and would not fit on a canvas.  But this little girl was a fabulous model.

Sunflowers by the Pool

Diane Mannion, SUNFLOWERS BY THE POOL, 8x6" oil Sold

Quick study of sunflowers by the pool.  Used thicker paint than usual because it's impossible to paint sunflowers without thinking about Van Gogh's thick impasto style and his fabulous sunflowers.  Also wanted to include the "air" around the flowers, in SW Florida it shows up easily as humidity.  And the main effort was to capture the light bleeding through the backlit flowers, my favorite way of painting them.

Beach Lady

Diane Mannion, BEACH LADY, 6x8" oil Sold

Found this woman collecting shark's teeth on Manasota Key.  Told her not to worry, they were from fossil sharks that no longer exist.  But there are a few modern versions still swimming out there.  

Snook Canoe

Diane Mannion, Snook Canoe, 6x8" oil

Here's one I started on location, put aside (instead of wiping it off) and decided a few weeks later there was something about it worth saving.  So spent a few hours ( instead of the few minutes I thought it would take!) embellishing and polishing and attempting to make it work.  It's still not the masterpiece I had envisioned, sigh.  Just posted it to show that not every painting is a winner.  Some are simply practice for the next.

Faux Pear

Diane Mannion, Faux Pear, 4x5"watercolor

Painted while in Texas after searching a few antique shops for still life objects.  The blue glass is a Vicks VapoRub jar, the amber glass once held Lysol.  The pear is from Mom's kitchen and it's a fake.  

San Antonio Sunflower

Diane Mannion, SAN ANTONIO SUNFLOWER, 6x6"oil

I'm just back from Texas where acres of sunflowers glowed yellow in stark contrast to dark, purple-gray skies.  This one was sunstruck when a hole opened briefly in the clouds and the rain stopped long enough to snap a few reference photos.  Mom waited in the car parked just off the road near a steep, muddy ditch and worried when she spotted a pickup truck nearby with a rather large dog in the back.  Fortunately, the beast was looking in the opposite direction and didn't see me sloshing through the mud as I chased the sun's brief spotlight across the field.  

I love how sunflowers follow the sun's path across the sky during the day, all facing the same direction,  heads nodding and bobbing in agreement.  Sunflowers were the highlight of the trip!