A Few of My Favorite Things

A Few of My Favorite Things
8 x 10 Oil Painting
by Pat Fiorello
$300

 

Okay if I was really being honest, a painting of "My Favorite Things" would have to include my husband, pizza and chocolate ice cream (with multi-colored sprinkles), but I wanted to do I still life today with this vase I bought in Pienza Italy and I thought this collection would look better together. At least a better color harmony! They do represents some favorites- flowers, paint brushes, Italy and okay, all things lemony.

"Charleston Dreams"

"Charleston Dreams"
16 x 16 Oil Painting
by Pat Fiorello

"Charleston Dreams" was inspired by the beautiful bouquet of this new bride who got married in Charleston earlier this year. Often I don't get to meet the brides if they are long distance, but Elyse is right here in Atlanta so she was able to come to my studio to pick up her painting in person today.  So nice to see the joy on her face when the painting brought back the memories of her beautiful wedding flowers and her wedding day.

If you know of anyone would like their wedding day commemorated with a beautiful painting, please contact me. You can learn more at bridalbouquetpaintings.com 

My Secret Garden

My Secret Garden
12 x 16 Painting
by Pat Fiorello
 $750

 

Many years ago while on a trip to Italy teaching a painting workshop, I stumbled across a back alleyway in the small town of Pienza. I don't even think it's an official through street, just a way for some of the homeowners to get to their yards and garages.

Close up

 This alley has the most wonderful and abundant collections of flower pots that catch the light in such a beautiful way.  Every time I take a group of students to Pienza, I share my garden discovery.  I love spending time there, taking photos and just soaking in the beauty and peace. Just on the other side of this street is the main street of the town with its shops and tourist activity, but a few hundred feet away is this peaceful quiet garden.

 I'm sure others have discovered it too, but I like to think of it as my secret garden. This painting was inspired by my most recent visit there this June.

Memories of Sunny Italy

Memories of Sunny Italy
8 x 10 oil painting
by Pat Fiorello
$300

One of many happy memories of Italy is seeing the vivid red geraniums that seem to be dancing under the Tuscan sun. The red and green look great with the terra cotta pots and stone.

I googled "Why is the Italian flag is red and green?" and this is what I found from a site called the Veeno Company:

"There are a number of theories of why these three colours were used. Some believe that the green represents the country’s plains and the hills; white for the the snowy Alps; and red for the blood spilt in the Wars of Italian Independence. Another more religious interpretation is that the green represents hope, the white represents faith, and the red represents charity."

I prefer to believe it was inspired by the colors of geraniums and their leaves :)

Hydrangea Burst

Hydrangea Burst
8 x 10 oil painting
by Pat Fiorello
 $300
  

Been experimenting lately with using palette knives for painting. I am enjoying the energy and texture they help me achieve. I'd been working on that technique mainly with sunflowers so far, so decided to try it with hydrangeas.

 This one was done with palette knives on gessoboard (which is a very slick surface).  Between the smoothness of the metal knives, the slipperiness of oil paints and the smooth surface of the gessoboard, things are slipping and sliding very fast. But the energy of that is really fun.  I titled this painting "Hydrangea Burst"- it seems to be bursting with the energy and movement it was painted with. 

Sunflowers and Irises in Oil

Sunflowers and Irises
12 x 24 Oil Painting
by Pat Fiorello
$1250

Been working on a series of sunflowers lately and I had a reference photo from a still life I had set up awhile back of sunflowers and irises.

I had used it for a commissioned painting earlier this year where the client was looking for a watercolor painting.  I loved the composition and wondered what it would look like in oil but hadn't had a chance to get to it yet. I have also been experimenting with palette knife painting lately and thought this might be a great opportunity to finally take on that sunflower painting.   the final painting of "Sunflowers and Irises" is shown above. Below is a close up so you can see some of the texture from the knife work.

Here is the watercolor version based on similar inspiration.

Classic Sunflowers

Classic Sunflowers
12 x 16 Oil Painting
 by Pat Fiorello
 $750

 Earlier this week I bought some sunflowers at the local Fresh Market and set them up in my studio for a still life painting.  Sunflowers are fun to paint, but can also be a little overwhelming if you try to get every petal exactly as they are.

It's helpful to orient the flowers facing in different directions, some facing more towards the front views, some with side views, some more in light and some more in shadow. I chose to go with a dark background because I was looking for a more dramatic, classic feel for this painting.

Initially the entire background was dark, but before I finished it felt too dark, so I did a bit of a gradation from dark towards a bit lighter (added some Naples Yellow to my dark mixture) from left to right to give it a little more atmosphere and soften the contrast on the shadow side.

The set up

The initial block in

Starting to lay in color

O'Hara Lights

O'Hara Lights
12 x 16 oil painting
by Pat Fiorello
$750

 Had set up some O'Hara roses a few weeks back. I initially had them against a light background, but then decided to see how they would look with a darker background for a more classic dramatic look.

So I took my initial photo and in Photoshop Elements put in a darker background. It's is just an approximation since changing one thing, has an impact on everything else, but it gives you an rough idea of the difference the value pattern created by the background might make.