Collection Preview: Sunflowers
Sunflowers
September 3rd, 10 am EST.
A delicate exploration of pattern, composition, and the many faces of Sunflowers.
Gathering Materials:
This collection has felt like such a gift this summer. Each week in August I drove to a different flower farm, cutting garden, or farmer’s market to see which flowers would be waiting for me. It was a beautiful reminder to pause, smell the flowers, and soak in these fleeting days of summer. My mom brought me vases from her cottage and together we arranged the flowers, balancing different compositions. I so enjoyed their company in my studio each week. Drawing from life is such a grounding meditation in the present moment - you have to focus on what’s in front of you so intently, there isn’t much room for intruding thoughts or daydreams. I highly recommend it.
Creation Process:
I chose to paint on this wonderfully creamy, printing paper made in France. I loved the rawness of the deckled edges and the warmth it added to my palette. I felt the ethereal feeling of this paper matched the ephemeral nature of the flowers. In each piece you might notice slight smudges, stray marks, and folds in the paper. I personally love this evidence of human touch and I see it as another form of artist signature - elements only seen on original paintings which makes them so special.
For each painting, I gently sketched out the composition, before carefully approaching the paper with paint. Several pieces didn’t make it to the final collection as each decision and mark required a thoughtfulness, where painting on panel or canvas is much more forgiving to second-thoughts.
Pattern, composition, relationships, negative space, color, and texture are all themes I explored in this collection. In trying to reflect the variety and playfulness of sunflowers, I chose to use a variety of mediums, including acrylic, gouache, wax pastel, oil pastel, and graphite. Some paintings have all five mediums, while others have less. I let the flowers guide me in both medium and color selection, and as sunflower season has begun to die down, they also told me when the collection was finished.
*You’ll notice two bonus paintings in this collection that are not entirely sunflowers. One still life was inspired by my birthday bouquet my mom sent to me from a local florist. The other features blooms from the cutting garden in our backyard we planted this year. I couldn’t resist!
What To Expect:
Fourteen 22x30” paintings
$650 each
All paintings are on cream printing paper made in France. They are available unframed only, though in each shipment I’ll include my guidelines and recommendations for framing. They will be sprayed with a fixative, titled and signed on the front in pencil. If you are local and would like to arrange studio pick-up, you can email me after your purchase and I will refund your shipping. Also, if you would like me to ship your piece directly to your local framer, also email me after your purchase at hello@katherinecorden.com
Available on Thursday, September 3rd at 10 am EST. Sign up for my newsletter to receive the release straight to your inbox!
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From Nature to Home
As always, I strive to balance nostalgic and seasonal subjects with modern marks and perspectives that give my pieces the versatility to freshen up a variety of spaces and seasons. I imagine these paper pieces floated over a mat that contrasts with the cream paper and showcases the deckled edges, then set in a slim frame that complements the color palette. Please feel free to email me at hello@katherinecorden.com if you have any framing questions. Again, I’ll include my framing guidelines and recommendations with each shipment.
Thank you for reading, and as always, may they complement the light and love in your homes.
Only love,
Katherine