We now have the beginning of a painting. This is watercolor on polypropylene and it is perfect for this as we will achieve a lot of texture with this "yupo" paper.

First we have the beginning drops of paint, which sit on the surface as yupo does not absorb paint.





In the second step I use a foam roller, which is a general purpose paint tool for painting a room. I smooth out the background for contrast with the textures of the arrangement.

Next we add the touches of color which are the tulips, freesias and ornamental cabbages.

The final picture shows the finished painting with all the color and texture
because we used the perfect smooth surface to paint on called "yupo."


www.mesart.com/ashleyarts
12w X 14h "Ikebana with Tulips" by Susan Ashley

Photographs of the Flower Show Evolving into Paintings

This past weekend we had a well received Ikebana International Flower Show in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Many people wanted to be in the park after so many days of rain. It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny Saturday and Sunday event.
Here is the first basic step in starting the arrangement. My husband stabilized the birch branch with a wood base,
which was the anchor for the arrangement.
.








Next is the final arrangement with the Chiko School elements of natural materials without fancy vases. There are often artifacts such as small figures, but with the birch branches, I didn't feel that was necessary.

The next step is to paint the textures and colors, possibly using a polypropelyne material called "yupo" paper. It enables the paint to lay on top of the material and gives a strong, color impact. The next blog will feature the progress of painting this arrangement.

There are photographs of the many arrangements soon to be posted on www.ikebana.org/

Find some of my earlier paintings of flowers and ikebana on www.mesart.com/ashleyarts

The Ikebana International Flower Show at the County Fair Building, 9th Avenue and Lincoln Way in Golden Gate Park San Francisco is this weekend, March 7-8, 2009.

I am an artist who also does ikebana arrangements, both in the natural state of flowers and in paint . Here is an image of what one might see at the flower show. It is a painting of the Ohara School of ikebana with pomegranates.

The Chiko School is now the one I actively study and will be painting. Look for new images, especially coming soon on my website.

www.mesart.com/ashleyarts

Ikebana International Show website for directions and times: www.ikebana.org/