Kaia Thomas - A path with ART

Here is the progression of my newly completed painting "Sunflower Medley".  This was a joy to paint - minus the miserable heat wave that had to be endured during it's creation! Enjoy... "Sunflower Medley" 24" x 20" oil on linen $1200 www.kaiathomas.com

"Agave Grande" 8 x 10 oil on linen panel $280  www.kaiathomas.com  I decided to set up and do some plein air painting in our front yard. Over the years our cactus garden has really taken off and I am seeing paintings everywhere now! I was really happy with how this one turned out.

"Garden Delights" 10" x 10" framed oil on linen  Available through 55 Main Gallery ! " Garden Delights " was inspired from a particularly beautiful summer garden we had here in Arizona. The sunflowers were in full force and in turn attracted many varieties of butterflies including the Monarch Butterfly, which is what I chose to paint here atop a vibrant and prolific type sunflower named the Mexican Sunflower. These are two of my favorite things in the natural world and of course means a real joy to paint!

   I decided to document this latest still life painting from beginning to end. I was trying out this newly discovered style - a much looser, "get the paint on there", kind of style.       F or much of my artistic life, you probably could of called me a "Miss Meticulous" type of painter. I loved to spend hours on one spot and often leaned towards painting fine detail type stuff (cultural designs, mandalas). There has been a shift in me lately where I have learned to let go and just paint! I truly believe that this has been my missing link, mainly with my oil painting.    T his past workshop that I took is where I discovered this new style and ever since then, my painting style has become looser and more expressive. So, here we go...    I n the beginning I chose not to draw out my idea first, I usually would use charcoal or pencil or even a sketch with paint - this was about a three minute, throw some "thin"paint on there, ...

Every morning while watering the sunflowers, I find myself getting captured by the backlit glow of the petals. I finally had enough brains to bring my watercolor sketch stuff with me this morning and gave an attempt at capturing it. I also tried to capture this lighting with the camera to save for reference and although the pictures are nice, they don't quite capture that glow... "en plein air" it is!!

It's growing awesome!! These pictures were taken a few days ago in our garden - the sunflowers are starting to bloom and it's stunning. This will be our 20th year of gardening here and it has been amazing season so far. In general, gardening in the desert is extreme and there is a constant struggle against the elements and critters...but this year is being kind and the plants are flourishing. This is also one of the reasons I have not posted in so long, lol, I had to trade computer time for garden time. I hope everyone is doing well out there...these have been some rough times lately. Sending out some positive vibes to all♥♥♥