Not Flowers

Not Flowers

36 x 24"

acrylic on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2014

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I began renovating. The bulk of the work went very smoothly and relatively quickly for how these things can go. I am really happy with the results, but I am still tying up loose ends like finding storage solutions, purging things I no longer need and finalizing little decorating details. Pre-renos my house was rather colourful with a blue kitchen, red powder room, green bathroom, cream/light yellow dining room and taupe family room. Post-renos I have neutralized all of the walls to a beautiful soft gray and now I want the colour to come from artwork and accessories. This is where today's painting comes in.

A couple of weeks ago I started this piece for my main floor powder room. My goal was to create an abstract that would have a bit of a feminine flair and work well with the awesome mirror I found online. I really wanted to use a variety of pinks, corals and oranges with some soft whites. It started out much more structural as you can see in the studio shot below...

... but as I worked on it my feelings about it changed. Initially I thought I would go with a more linear approach, but once I had a number of brushstrokes laid down I found some interesting marks, so I began to play with more organic shapes and patterns, rather than lines. The entire thing was impulsive and completely fun to paint. Between painting sessions I also had to hit Hues Art Supply for some better tubes of colour with which to do my mixing- Cadmium Red makes sucky, dull pinks!

The painting is really growing on me. It is propped against the wall in my bathroom and I am living with it for awhile to see if it is the right fit. I'm pretty sure I like it and so does my youngest son. My husband and oldest son are less enthused. What do you think?

my awesome mirror and artwork by my friends

Cam Forrester and Ken Van Rees

"Not Flowers" in its new home?

"Not Flowers" reflected in the mirror