Nobody Puts Aloe in the Corner
(Who are you if you don’t get this Dirty Dancing reference ;) )
Original gouache painting on archival watercolor paper.
6 x 6 inches with small white border.
This was part of the daily painting, Plant Portrait Series of February 2025.
Day 1.
An aloe in a corner, the little spikes on the edges were my favorite. This being my FIRST of this series, it was before I decided that all the pieces would be plant oriented.
I plucked a plant from my overpopulated indoor plant crowd and put it on the island in the kitchen where I was set up to paint.
I look closely at plants all the time because I tend plants. More closely than someone who doesn’t tend plants. When you’re a plant person you pay attention to things like what the leaves look like, how it seems to be doing, and so on. During this first session it occurred to me that to notice a plant in order to ART the plant, is a whole different kind of observation. Had I ever actually noticed before what direction those little points on the end went? And the leaves, the organization and shape they make to come out as a plant, did I know from memory how that went? I did not. New things occurred to me.
I never set out to paint this plant as it existed. It was only meant to be a reference. I brought it off the shelf thinking: “What DOES an aloe really look like?”, have I ever looked very very close? And painting that from mind, what you THINK an aloe looks like, no matter how much you have or have not studied an aloe or whatever the subject may be, it is guaranteed to fill in some gaps to sit in front of the actual thing you are attempting to capture.
With this in mind, I did this piece. I used the plant in front of me to give me more information as to what an aloe really looks like. However the piece didn’t capture this plant exactly as it was: not in pot, not in number of leaves or direction of all the eaves, and not in the background it was in front of either. That was entirely made up. It was only ever meant to be a reference to be generalized.
And then I thought: where else in life do we do that? Generalize what we think we know, look for references points to be more accurate, then entirely make it up anyway?!?
Important note:
THIS PIECE DOES NOT COME FRAMED.
These pieces are SHOWN placed in a Basic Box Wood Frame which I love the aesthetic of for the simplicity and minimalist aesthetic. It could be a good choice for your frame. The piece DOES NOT COME FRAMED or in this frame. The picture is so you can see it in a setting but you will get to PYO frame for it! Or ADD THIS frame as an add on during check out.
(Who are you if you don’t get this Dirty Dancing reference ;) )
Original gouache painting on archival watercolor paper.
6 x 6 inches with small white border.
This was part of the daily painting, Plant Portrait Series of February 2025.
Day 1.
An aloe in a corner, the little spikes on the edges were my favorite. This being my FIRST of this series, it was before I decided that all the pieces would be plant oriented.
I plucked a plant from my overpopulated indoor plant crowd and put it on the island in the kitchen where I was set up to paint.
I look closely at plants all the time because I tend plants. More closely than someone who doesn’t tend plants. When you’re a plant person you pay attention to things like what the leaves look like, how it seems to be doing, and so on. During this first session it occurred to me that to notice a plant in order to ART the plant, is a whole different kind of observation. Had I ever actually noticed before what direction those little points on the end went? And the leaves, the organization and shape they make to come out as a plant, did I know from memory how that went? I did not. New things occurred to me.
I never set out to paint this plant as it existed. It was only meant to be a reference. I brought it off the shelf thinking: “What DOES an aloe really look like?”, have I ever looked very very close? And painting that from mind, what you THINK an aloe looks like, no matter how much you have or have not studied an aloe or whatever the subject may be, it is guaranteed to fill in some gaps to sit in front of the actual thing you are attempting to capture.
With this in mind, I did this piece. I used the plant in front of me to give me more information as to what an aloe really looks like. However the piece didn’t capture this plant exactly as it was: not in pot, not in number of leaves or direction of all the eaves, and not in the background it was in front of either. That was entirely made up. It was only ever meant to be a reference to be generalized.
And then I thought: where else in life do we do that? Generalize what we think we know, look for references points to be more accurate, then entirely make it up anyway?!?
Important note:
THIS PIECE DOES NOT COME FRAMED.
These pieces are SHOWN placed in a Basic Box Wood Frame which I love the aesthetic of for the simplicity and minimalist aesthetic. It could be a good choice for your frame. The piece DOES NOT COME FRAMED or in this frame. The picture is so you can see it in a setting but you will get to PYO frame for it! Or ADD THIS frame as an add on during check out.
(Who are you if you don’t get this Dirty Dancing reference ;) )
Original gouache painting on archival watercolor paper.
6 x 6 inches with small white border.
This was part of the daily painting, Plant Portrait Series of February 2025.
Day 1.
An aloe in a corner, the little spikes on the edges were my favorite. This being my FIRST of this series, it was before I decided that all the pieces would be plant oriented.
I plucked a plant from my overpopulated indoor plant crowd and put it on the island in the kitchen where I was set up to paint.
I look closely at plants all the time because I tend plants. More closely than someone who doesn’t tend plants. When you’re a plant person you pay attention to things like what the leaves look like, how it seems to be doing, and so on. During this first session it occurred to me that to notice a plant in order to ART the plant, is a whole different kind of observation. Had I ever actually noticed before what direction those little points on the end went? And the leaves, the organization and shape they make to come out as a plant, did I know from memory how that went? I did not. New things occurred to me.
I never set out to paint this plant as it existed. It was only meant to be a reference. I brought it off the shelf thinking: “What DOES an aloe really look like?”, have I ever looked very very close? And painting that from mind, what you THINK an aloe looks like, no matter how much you have or have not studied an aloe or whatever the subject may be, it is guaranteed to fill in some gaps to sit in front of the actual thing you are attempting to capture.
With this in mind, I did this piece. I used the plant in front of me to give me more information as to what an aloe really looks like. However the piece didn’t capture this plant exactly as it was: not in pot, not in number of leaves or direction of all the eaves, and not in the background it was in front of either. That was entirely made up. It was only ever meant to be a reference to be generalized.
And then I thought: where else in life do we do that? Generalize what we think we know, look for references points to be more accurate, then entirely make it up anyway?!?
Important note:
THIS PIECE DOES NOT COME FRAMED.
These pieces are SHOWN placed in a Basic Box Wood Frame which I love the aesthetic of for the simplicity and minimalist aesthetic. It could be a good choice for your frame. The piece DOES NOT COME FRAMED or in this frame. The picture is so you can see it in a setting but you will get to PYO frame for it! Or ADD THIS frame as an add on during check out.