Pink Saturday

I was inspired to paint this little girl in a garden years ago. I found wonderful models of what I was looking for in an old copy of Victoria Magazine. Painting in oil on canvas is a joy because I can create much more texture than using watercolor.

As I began to paint the composition I noticed that it took on a life of it's own. I started noticing how much the garden was taking on characteristics of Giverny. Giverny, a place I long to visit some day. Claude Monet is my favorite painter, and I can never read enough or visit his paintings in museums or in books to satisfy my hunger to know more.



I researched some things about Giverny, and much to my surprise Lily had been painted many times by Monet.





I wrote a post with all the history I discovered HERE.



When I finished the painting of Lily in Giverny, I became very fond of her and the history of her life. Whenever, I look at this painting now I don’t just see it as a painting of a little girl, but her connection to my favorite artist, Claude Monet.



I was so taken with the history of Lily that I named the painting after her. I changed the original white chair and table in my painting to reflect the similar green garden furniture that Monet used in his garden. I also studied photographs from books dipicting many of the female visitors and family members wearing lovely hats and beautiful white summer frocks. So, I added a hat for Lily and hung it from her chair, and tried to render her frock with a bit more frills.



I was in my studio yesterday,and I placed Lily on my easel and thought, she really needs more paint. I am going to add some more detail and love, and well, I just love an opportunity to paint and dream of Giverny, and Monet's Pink house against that amazing garden.

Please visit Bev from How Sweet The Sound and read and see the many pink posts written to celebrate today. Lynn from The Vintage Nest is one of my favorite ladies in the land of Blog. She was one of the first people to leave a comment on my first post. Lynn always joins Pink Saturday too, so if you want to be enchanted, please stop by The Vintage Nest. The song for this post is from French Kiss, sung by Kevin Kline, La Mer.