Touching the Light: flower art paintings
- Rebecca Vincent
- Jul 8
- 4 min read
I'm really excited about these latest mixed-media paintings as I feel I've made a big step forward in how to use light and colour to create a more complete and integrated composition. The loose theme is evening light in the garden, illuminating flowers and seedheads. There's a magical moment at the end of a summer's day when the light seems to turn to liquid gold and bathes everything it touches.
Realistic rendering isn’t my goal — instead, I aim to interpret the subject through colour, shape and texture, using the exciting painting techniques I’ve been exploring and developing over the past couple of years. There's a feel-good factor when materials and marks come together in a satisfying way — and these pieces have that feeling.
In my blog posts A Sea Change and Room to Grow, you can see the precursors to these works. I continued with the reliable umbellifer silhouettes, adding leaves and poppy seedheads. These simple shapes allowed me to focus on developing the layers, colour harmonies, and sense of light. They’re motifs I can compose with in different combinations.
A real “penny dropping” moment came when I realised how to use stencils to add both positive and negative shapes — a process that has much in common with how I work in monotype printmaking. I cut them from acetate and use both the cut-out shape and its inverse, incorporating them with sponging and spraying — the latest additions to my ever-growing toolbox of techniques. I also include collage for crisp edges and patterned detail. There’s next to no brushwork! There are many brilliant painters using brushes, but for me, brush marks just don’t cut the mustard!
In "Reaching Up", I introduced a distant lawn peeking through the stems. I’d like to develop this idea so the floral shapes feel rooted in a landscape, rather than floating freely. It was fun adding the leaves — but next time, I’d like them to be a little less defined, with softer edges. Each piece leads naturally to the next, and I’m feeling a sense of creative excitement I haven’t experienced since art school!
This small painting with collage (below) was a test piece for the others. I loved the harmonious pinks, so I carried that palette into Harmony in Pink and Gold. I enjoy making experiments — there’s no pressure — but it can be frustrating when the “big one” doesn’t live up to the charm of its smaller forerunner! I especially feel this tension when I move on to a beautifully prepared wood panel: the desire to “get it right” can stifle creative flow.
Having cut out all the poppy seedheads stencils, I made good use of them in several pieces. Catching the Last Light (below) incorporates some drawn lines to add another visual layer.
I abandoned the piece below after realising I’d unwittingly truncated the stems with the lawn area! It’s all part of the learning curve — and I remembered to change the order of the layers next time. It's very similar to monotype printmaking, where layers need to be printed in logical sequence. If I have a unique insight as a painter, it’s this translation of my printmaking experience into the painting process.
Onthe test piece below, I compared stenciling the leaves with opaque and translucent paint so I could see the different properties. The former covers completely whilst the latter allows you to see through to what's below. Both are useful in developing a mult-layered composition.
The textured green background of "In the Pink" was the perfect foil for the bright pink Rosebay Willowherb — currently running rampant in my back garden! I cut all the flower shapes from hand-painted collage paper — very, very fiddly, but worth it. There’s something sensational about lime green and magenta together. These were the colours I chose for my mother’s funeral flowers — she’d been a professional flower arranger and hated anything conventional in the floral style department.
After using poppy seedheads extensively, it felt fitting to turn my attention to the flowers. Our garden is full of poppies this summer courtesy of my husband's prolific seed-sowing! They’re not such clear silhouettes, so finding a stylish way to interpret them is a challenge. I’ll update you on how these flower art paintings look in progress turn out later this summer. Please sign up to my email list if you’d like notifications about new blog posts.
These last three are the beginning of something new — they’re all joined together in a long strip of paper. Right now, I’m throwing down leftover paint and collage fairly randomly, but it has a good vibe and I’m enjoying the vibrant colour. It’s the usual thing: when you stop trying so hard, something good tends to happen!
If you wish to purchase any of these artworks, please get in touch by email info@rebecca-vincent.co.uk or phone/text on +447717256169. We can discuss framing options that would suit your home. Join my email list for updates on when new work is available - scroll down to sign up form.
These are so lovely--you have captured the essence of a summer evening in the garden. That creative excitement you are experiencing is what I love most about making art. Enjoy it!