Sunflowers are “funflowers”

Yesterday the Sacramento Bee’s Home and Garden section featured a long and informative article about sunflowers.  Those of you who know me already know that I am an avid flower gardener and one of my favorite flowers to grow and paint are sunflowers.  The article in the Bee taught me a few things I did not know about these fun flowers, check it out.

Every year I teach an afternoon watercolor class on painting sunflowers usually in September.  The classes usually fill up fast and the students always seem to have a great time.  Most go home with a good start on their painting, but since the class is only 4 hours they have to finish the painting on their own, applying what they learned in class.  Sometimes I wonder if they ever finish them, and sometimes I will see the same painting come back to class next year still not finished.  So it is always fun when a student sends me a photo of a sunflower painting that was begun in class (in this case in 2009) and is finally finished.  

I especially love this painting that Marleen Merchant just finished because the flower seems to be blowing in the breeze.  She avoided that awful flagpole stiff stem that I so often see in sunflower paintings.  And, she captured the character of the leaves, great job Marleen!

My next sunflower classes are September 23 at the Sacramento Fine Art Center 1:00 – 5:00pm  fee $45.,  or September 25 at University Art Center, Marconi Avenue store, Sacramento also from 1:00 – 5:00 pm.  fee $45.  Both classes have space available at the moment, call me at 916-652-4624 to enroll.