The Magic of Painting Flowers

Flowers have always been one of my favorite subjects to paint. The magic of painting flowers is key to my inspiration as a painter. This year’s generous rains in Northern California have led to an abundance of spring flowers. It promises to be a very colorful summer here in the Bay Area! This Poppy Garden Print is one of my most popular images.

Loving Gardens

My grandfather had a nursery business in the Poconos. When my mother was growing up she helped harvest fields of flowers that were shipped by train to wealthy customers in the New York area. She’s always loved gardens and gardening and passed that enthusiasm on to me. Napa Street View Print shows a beautiful garden near my studio.

Looking closely at Flowers

I enjoy both the close up view of flowers, and vistas filled with flowers. Blossoms offer so much complexity to examine. Their symmetry is delightful. The variations in color within the blooms are fascinating. My Magnolias print is an example of how much I enjoy painting flowers.

Alpine Spring

At higher elevations in the Sierra, such as the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe, the spring flowers are different than lower down. Yellow sunflower-like mule’s ears and bright red Indian paintbrush combine with the blue of lupine to make a spectacular show that can be seen in my print Tahoe Wildflowers.

The Super Bloom

This year California has enjoyed a rare super bloom because of the heavy winter rains. Super blooms manifest in hillsides of flowers blooming as far as the eye can see. California poppies, blue lupine, and other varieties of wildflowers color whole fields in orange and blue. It is a remarkable vision that inspires sight-seers, photographers and painters from all over. California poppies are central to a number of my paintings and prints including Poppies Print, Poppy Garden Print, Field of Poppies, California Spring, Butterflies and Poppies Tile, and Spring Garden Print. And these are just a sampling of my flowers paintings! There are lots more available at susansternau.com. I hope you’ll explore them.

Flower Photography

I recently viewed a wonderful super-bloom inspired photography exhibit at Sausalito’s Bay Model. Photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter have also published a book on their photos called Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change. You can find more at their website about their exhibits and how to order their book.

Flowers for Everyone

I’ve also adapted many of my original oil paintings and watercolors of flowers into note cards such as Poppies Card and White Iris with Mock Orange Card, prints and tiles. It’s my hope that there’s something for everyone, no matter what your favorite flower. Everyone can enjoy the magic of painting flowers! I also paint East Coast favorites such as Bearded Iris Tile, as well as garden scenes such as Monet’s House and Garden and Roses in the Sky, another French garden inspired scene.  

The Magic of Painting Flowers

I plan to keep painting flowers this summer and in the future. In fact, just yesterday I was working on a large canvas of high country flowers full of bright reds, yellows and blues. How delightful to be able to recreate the beauty of nature in my own studio with a brush and some paints! Painting always seems magical to me. It’s a bit like the magic of nature in the spring where barren hills transform into acres of color. My blank canvases start out equally bare but by the time I’m finished with them I’ve hopefully managed to create a little slice of heaven. That’s the magic of painting flowers.