Showing posts with label inspired by nature. Show all posts

Monday, August 15, 2016

In the Studio : New Paintings in Progress

In the studio: Almost finished with this pair of paintings. Working on a new

concept for a series called "Waterline" - happy with the direction these are heading.

heidi carlsen rogers waterline painting in the studio inspiration

Works in Progress - Studio View- www.heidicarlsenrogers.com

Inspiration for the Waterline paintings - I could spend the whole day staring into

the water - the rhythmic movement is so mesmerizing.

www.heidicarlsenrogers.com

Friday, April 15, 2016

About: Flower Portrait (Woman)

heidi carlsen rogers studio view new flower portrait Woman painting inspired by flowers for womanmade nwa show in bentonville a

Flower Portrait (Woman), 2016
Acrylic, Gouache and Pencil on Canvas (Horizontal Diptych), 60" H x 72" W
www.heidicarlsenrogers.com

Flower Portrait (as a Woman)

Originally for the show, I was going to create a large painting that studied and explored the color pink, as this is a hue that is typically associated with women and being feminine.

But I shifted to thinking about the piece more in terms of the current series I am involved with called Flower Portraits, where I paint large abstracted drawings of flowers.

I decided explore both of those ideas together to represent what is to me a distinctly feminine symbol – a pink flower.

This flower is not a specific bloom, but one that is made-up - a compilation of the lines and shapes of flowers that I keep with me in my mind.

The shades of pink in the painting express the full life cycle of a flower in terms of color.

The colors speak to the grit and perseverance of the journey where a flower seeds, grows, buds, blossoms, then slowly starts to fade, eventually falling back to the ground where it began.

There is beauty throughout the changing stages of being a flower/woman – the colors tell that story as they fluctuate between vibrant and muted; fresh and withered; dewy and ashy; pale and deep.

The underlying surface is rough and gritty, representing where a flower comes from symbolically – dirt or soil.

Above the horizon line, the upper canvas focuses on the time in the life of a blossom when it is in the state of being exquisitely and most abundantly alive – fully beautiful.

The lower horizon tells of the fading, quieting, and greying that happens as the flower’s life cycle is winding down - when it will be brought back into the earth.

On the horizon line itself; the colors cross over into one another – swaying between youthfulness/blossoming and quieting/aging.

The piece was done in two parts because I thought one canvas could not express or hold the full story of the flower and her life cycle.

Even though this is technically a portrait, I wanted the painting to read in a landscape format with a firm horizon line because I consider the landscape to be extraordinary – something that feels monumental and expansive. I represent the “woman as flower” symbol as the same – powerful, beautiful, intricate, complex, with a presence that spills over the edges of this canvas.

www.heidicarlsenrogers.com

Friday, April 8, 2016

Color Inspiration: Fresh + Faded Roses

Wanted to share a few of the flowers I have been referencing for my new Flower Portrait (Woman) that will be in the WomanMade:NWA show in a few weeks.

I have been photographing the blooms as they age and pulling inspiration from both the fresh and faded colors.