Red geraniums are one of those summer garden classics. My mom always grew them and I also grow them, I just love them. Add another classic to the mix, a terracotta pot, place them on the front porch with an American flag and well that to me is as American as apple pie.

Nothing says summer like geraniums. Now I grow pink ones, salmon and peachy ones, white ones and violet ones but the red is a classic for sure. A rental house that I lived in when I was just 20 had beautiful old fashioned red geraniums ivy and lattice wallpaper in the kitchen. It was an old farmhouse and it was haunted! (below) My goodness I was young, I remember that girl.

Fast forward about 33 years and we’re back to this painting. I sketched in my design and then began to paint it. To be honest, at first I thought this is going to be so pretty. Then, it got hard real quick. It was an extremely challenging painting. I hated it. I complained to my fellow artist friends about how difficult it was being and how I wasn’t enjoying it at all. There was a lot of whining.

Probably because there were sooooo many petals. I tend to get a little carried away with the details, too. I try to paint looser with less detail but it doesn’t usually happen. It’s something I struggle with all of the time. Painting loose and carefree is actually very hard and intentional. It requires a lot of self restraint which sounds crazy and counter intuitive but it’s true.

As much as I was cussing while painting all these little red petals when I began to add the green leaves things seemed to make a change. The painting started to come together and I began to enjoy it. My favorite part to paint were the leaves, I love how they turned out. Below, it’s nearly finished.

I haven’t told you yet, but this painting was a commissioned piece. If you look carefully at the photo below, you’ll see an almost hidden peace sign. My art collector loves and collects peace signs, so she wanted me to add this little detail to it. My prints and reproductions of this piece will not have that peace sign on there. I neglected to photograph it after I added it.

Another little tidbit about the geraniums painting is that I created two canvases in the beginning. I sketched two I should say. I have another canvas with the sketch waiting for me to start painting on it. Considering the amount of time it took me and the aggravation it may be waiting a while.

Lessons are always learned on each painting. This one had some hard lessons, but I’m better for it. Prints and reproductions are available in my shop and I’ll also have a wider selection of different items for it as well.

If you’d like to be alerted to new work then I’d love to have you join my collectors list. It’s my newsletter called Visual Stories. I try to send it out a twice a month, but this summer has got me behind. Sign up and get 25% off your first print from this website. Sign up here.

←Tree with birds nest painting process /  2023 Penny Lane Coffeehouse Exhibit ⟶

Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page under the additional links menu. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery and telling mystical stories.

If you would like to keep up with what I’m doing, I have a newsletter called Visual Stories that’s e-mailed two to three times a month that gives you special status. Subscribers often get first dibs at new paintings, invitations to events, birthday greetings and more. I’d love for you to add your email to my Friends and Collectors list!