Lavender Wonderland oil palette knife painting

Lavender Wonderland by Marion Hedger

palette knife painting
Oil on artist quality 3mm thick MDF canvas panel,
Size = 30x 30cm (approx 12"x12") 

AVAILABLE

An impressionistic Provencal landscapes painting featuring the scenery of Provence, France and showing the Lavender fields marching up to the distant mountains. Imagine you can smell the lavender and feel the peacefulness with only the buzzing of the bees to disturb the quiet.

About this paintinng
The thickly applied strokes add texture and movement to the oil painting, a modern use of impressionism. It is painted loosely to give a lively feel and movement to the painting and show off the colours.

I actually started this painting last year, and in anticipation of my recent annual trip to the lavender fields, I had a sudden impetus to finish it!

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Summer Lavender Impressionist oil painting

Lavender Summer Provence Landscape

18x24cm (approx 7x10inch) 

Oil on 3mm MDF canvas panel

AVAILABLE

This painting nearly slipped through the net. I painted it last year after my yearly trip to the lavender fields. For some reason I missed posting it! A shame because I really like the way it it turned out.

I thought you might like to see my inspiration photo. As you can see I used my artistic license to it's full extent, adding foreground colour and encouraging the far lavender field into bloom.

Tell me how you would have handled this photo.

Some Close-ups of the knife work

 And how it might look displayed

Purple Sea oil palette knife painting

Purple Sea

Oil palette knife painting

18x24cm on 3mm canvas MDF panel

Available for purchase

Back to my beloved lavender scenes. I was getting purple withdrawal symptoms!

Painted from photos of the Valensol plateau which is awash with purple in the summer.

About this painting
This painting includes a version of the trees I was sketching previously see here. My husband commented the other day that my lavender paintings always look like you are looking down on them. Well that's right! The best vantage point to take the photos from is the verge which is usually higher than the road and gives more of a view and raises the horizon line.

I used a pink ground here and allowed it to poke through in places. The finishing touch was splattering paint over the foreground.

Some close-ups

Purple and Gold, not a football shirt but the colours of Provence

Poppy takeover

Last week we went for our annual foray to see the lavender and add to my collection of photos. Usually we go to the Valensol plateau near Digne-les-Bains, but this year we decided to go slightly further afield and do the Sault/Mont Ventoux area lavender trail and to take two days rather than one.

We were a little unlucky as it was a little early and the lavender was not in full bloom (I figure it will be at it's peak in about two weeks). The area around Sault had several patchwork fields but nothing like the sweeeping fields of the Valensole. The other parts of the trail was very scenic but seemed to missing the lavender! On the second day, heavy rain was predicted so we decided to come home taking a detour through the Valensole.

Luck was on our side as the weather started to clear up after midday and when we got to Valensole the sun was shining. The Valensole lavender was also much more advanced, so I got my fix of the purples and the lavender scent.  The only down side was the blustery wind resulting in several blurry photos. (you can see the lavender blowing about in the photo).

An added bonus was the fields of sunflowers on the way in the Durance valley. Just breathtakingly beautiful.

Unkempt 1 - Abandoned Lavender Field Take 1 WIP

Unkempt 1 - Abandoned Lavender Field Take 1 WIP

Palette knife painting

24x30cm oil on canvas panel

(Note: This photo has come up much brighter than the actual painting)

Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

When visiting the lavender fields in Provence, there are always a certain number of them which seem to be abandoned and left to go wild. This always fascinates me - maybe it's the chaos amongst the order of the normally straight rows that intrigues me.

I first painted a similar scene last September see HERE. I have someone interested in a larger version but with more poppies in the front, so, never needing an excuse to paint the lavender fields, I decided to try a couple of versions. This is the first one and still needs some more work to make the fields recede more.

Provence Lavender palette knife oil painting

Provence Lavender

Palette knife painting

Oil on box canvas

23 x 30 cm (approx 9x12 inch)
Available in my Etsy Store

A different format and orientation for this small painting. I have lots of canvasses that have accumulated over the years waiting for inspiration to strike. I had already painted a ground on this in a mix of blue, pink and yellow horizontal blocks and then did not do anything with it. I noticed it again a few days ago and as the block in was horizontal, it suggested a portrait format, not the typical orientation for my landscapes. The light bulb went on and this is the result.
Here are some close-ups of the knife work

The Smell of Lavender - Finished, palette knife painting in oils

The Smell of lavender

Palette knife painting

Oil on stretched linen canvas

46 x 55 cm (approx 18"x22")

For sale in my Etsy store

This painting is now finished. I changed the shape of the lavender fields from the first block in (see my previous post) a little, as compositionally they did not make sense. (Thank you Carol for pointing me in the right direction). I don't know what I was thinking, they joined smack bang in the centre of the canvas - I knew it was wrong but was persevering with it anyway. Carol made me stop and think - it's funny how sometimes it needs someone to say "Hold on a minute!".

Carol Hopper is another artist I connected with on the 30 days hath September challenge. See her blog here.

Lavender and Olives, Provence Palette Knife Landscape Painting

Lavender and Olives, Provence Landscape Painting

18x24cm (approx 7"x10")

Oil on canvas panel, painted with a palette knife.

SOLD

The lavender blooms and is harvested at the start of July. To extend the season many lavender farms also grow olives. The contrast between the purples of the lavender and the turquoisey blues of the olive trees make a nice colour combination. Painted with a palette knife on a pink ground which is allowed to peep through in place to add liveliness to the painting.

Another view of the lavender fields can be seen HERE