fun with flowers

It is kind of hard to resist the zinnias that are blooming in my garden - despite all the weeds -  at the moment.  I don't think I have the patience for a seriously detailed "floral" painting, but I do have a good time with these quicker studies. They are the painting equivalent of are a quick saute of the endless zucchinis that are also hidden out there among the overgrowth, as opposed to a complicated and carefully crafted vegetarian dish involving something squash-ish.  And now, back to (still another) self portrait.

Lillian, reading (Rosa La Rouge)

I had to finish this from a photo because Lillian got a job - sad for me, since she couldn't model any more and I loved her daily visits,  but brilliant for her because it is a cool job, part-time, and with it she can support the rest of her work as a theater director. The print on the wall behind her is only the second print I have ever bought, the first being "Christina's World" when I was twelve.  This one is of a heart-stopping little painting by Toulouse-Lautrec which was tucked away in a dark little room at the original Barnes collection in Philadelphia.