Still Life

40 x 40 Oil with Wax
I had been thinking about this still life set up for weeks….it was just an idea that would not go away until I painted it! I thoroughly enjoyed immersing into all the gorgeous layers building up in the background. The complicated Blue and White Chinoiserie Pagoda was a fun challenge to paint. Tough perspective and intricate design and I loved every minute. I have had this pagoda for so many years and it was delightful to put fresh beautiful roses in it and create this painting. I always feel so blessed to be an artist.

Speaking of good things and blessings…Super excited to have 2 shows coming up soon at Galleries. First one is on Thursday night, November 5th at ArtSource in Raleigh, NC. The following week on Friday night, November 13th at Bennett Galleries in Nashville, TN. I hope if you live near either of those hot spots you will come out and visit with us all. Going to be very special!

36 x 36
Total joy to paint this piece and felt like I was on holiday or “Gone Fishing” while having fun painting this one! I adore painting Chinoiserie/Blue and White pieces as I study the light and shadow and what that does to the pattern. This one has the prettiest fish painted all over it. Biggest most gorgeous soft hydrangeas and it was hard to tell where one stopped and the other began- just loved that. I could have monkeyed around with this one forever…but made myself stop…the layers and textures are so elegant and I am happy with how this one turned out.
I am painting long days in my Studio for several upcoming Shows at my Galleries…always honored to work with them and appreciate them so much. Stay tuned for more information very soon!

30 x 24
So many thoughts about this painting and I thought I would share some of them. This is one of those paintings with beautiful little “moments” all over it that come together and make a beautiful strong statement. I have learned to keep pushing and working to take a painting where I know it’s supposed to go. I found patience and also quiet anticipation as each special part of the painting emerged and it inspired me to keep dancing with this painting. I found comfort in painting something that I have collected for years- Blue and White/Chinoiserie- it’s a family tradition and I love everything about traditions. Those rich gorgeous colors in the flowers make me swoon! I am embracing so much color these days and appreciate that. This has a quiet happy charm about it and I hope it gives that to y’all also.
My thoughts and prayers remain with our family and friends up and down the East Coast as the storm continues. Stay Safe everyone. Peace and Grace…

48 x 36 Oil with Wax
Painting flowers in a window sill is an all time favorite subject and setting. There is just a charm to that and I love to find different windows to try out. The key as always is to follow the light source and understand how quickly it can shift on you. There’s also a lovely backlit effect that I really appreciate. When I paint white flowers the best part to me is all the little temperature shifts and the other colors reflecting and bouncing around. Just fascinates me and is so interesting and challenging to paint. This set up had the most gorgeous light bouncing all over the window sill and all those colors made the flowers even more beautiful to paint. Love painting from life! “Amongst The Obvious”.

36 x 36
Sundays are one of my favorite days to paint. It was always such a special day growing up and I just love how I feel on Sundays. Had a wonderful time painting this beautiful set up. Adore everything about it and pushing the colors that I saw in the reflections and popping all around. I just kept trying to see and think shapes, shapes and more shapes. It’s way more cognitively challenging to paint than most folks think! This rich color palette made me happy and all the shifts in the flowers in light and shadow were just gorgeous. Color me happy…this was a really special one to paint and “Easy Like Sunday Morning.”

40 x 30 Oil
Available at Gregg Irby Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia at 404.941.9787

One of my very favorite flowers to paint is peonies and this was so fun to capture these gorgeous peonies on this pretty little table and paint it all from life. My husband had just found me that new nest and I love this whole color palette…rich pale neutral colors!

So much good news and fun things going on in my art world! I am lucky enough to have a generous studio space and am revamping it and building a whole painting wall to use as my Easel. Will give me so much more space to paint and since I love to paint big this allows those huge canvases to hang in place on the wall as I work from one to another. Will post more photos and info on that as I go in case anyone is interested. Have joined in the fun over on Instagram…it’s a cool social media place to share and see so many beautiful photos- hope you will join me there and “Follow” me at kathycousart. I am painting every day as usual and getting a whole new exciting body of work ready for one of my favorite Galleries….will start posting those once they see them and approve. I so appreciate my Galleries and love working with them. Blessed!

40 x 40 Oil with Wax
Available at Gregg Irby Fine Art, Atlanta at 404.941.9787

Gathered up all my favorite things again with a few new additions and had so much fun painting this one. I love seeing the flowers compliment each other and all that wonderful reflected light bouncing around. Adore that little bird so much that I actually bought a second one they are just such a fun addition. I am having fun embracing a bit more color these days…just seeing it and painting it-and loving that. This rich but soft pastel color palette is gorgeous and makes me smile. Morning Blessings Y’all!

40 x 40 Oil with Wax
The significance of what beautiful blue and white Spode means to me is of traditions and treasures. My Mom gave me my first piece, that huge serving platter in the back of the painting, when I got married. I have collected it since then and started my daughters with their first pieces. It’s a pattern that is over 200 years old and was originally based on some fabulous Italian drawings. It’s complicating to paint and capture the intricate design and also the shifts in the blues and whites in light and shadow. This was a huge still life set up and I about needed a bigger space! Love the pops of color with the flowers and also the complimentary color of the rich oranges. This painting has a ton of paint on it that gives a wonderful texture to the porcelain especially.

30 x 30 Oil
Available at Bennett Galleries, Nashville, TN at 615-297-3201
I love all flowers but there is just something so special about Peonies! I loved painting these beautiful soft pastel colored peonies in this fancy formal container. It was challenging but I love how it turned out. The vase had some gold leaf on it and an intricate pattern on the front that I loved tackling. There was so much delightful reflected light bouncing all around and it was as always joyful to see that and then paint it. Bennett Galleries did professional photos of all of my paintings and I am loving seeing how someone else takes photos of my creations. Much appreciated!

48 x 48 Oil with Wax

Available at ArtSource Gallery, Raleigh NC (919) 787-9533
Nothing better then being immersed into the middle of gorgeous peonies and roses and painting them on a 4 foot by 4 foot canvas. So much space on the canvas to play in the paint! I loved every brushstroke of this and every layer of gorgeous oil paint and wax too. Painting flowers from life allows me to really paint that connection I have to them and transfer all of that into the painting. Adore how the sunlight hits the edges some of the petals and totally shifts that into a whole different color and value from what is in shadow on the flowers. I love seeing the little bits of reflected light bouncing all over and showing up as a soft turquoise or a light limey green! Always interests and fascinates me- hope that comes across and you love this one too!