I love it when paintings name themselves. Quite often as I am working on them, the name just comes to me and it almost always is the right name for the piece. This was one of those times. Dancing With the Sun. Just feels right
Dancing With the Sun oil painting
Dancing with the Sun
Were you aware that sunflowers move so that their “face” follows the sun? I think that this was so cool. So the flowers really do a slow dance with the sun each day and I danced under the sunflowers. It’s no wonder this flower makes everyone feel so much joy. The beautiful complementary yellow flowers against summers cobalt blue sky – so beautiful.
Here are a few more fun facts about sunflowers:
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Sunflowers are known for being “happy” flowers, making them the perfect gift to bring joy to someone’s (or your) day.
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The flower’s purpose is to provide food to humans and birds
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Not only are sunflowers smart, they are attractive and have been utilized in a variety of ways throughout the world. In the past, sunflowers were for medicinal uses and body ointments as well as for their seeds; which were ground or pounded into flour.
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Sunflowers can grow to heights of over ten feet! That’s almost twice my height – dance Helen dance
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Sunflowers are very popular with various religions as they symbolise loyalty and following god or their spiritual guide.
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What we typically call the flower is actually the flower head. The yellow petals we see are called ray flowers, and there are small florets that are called disk flowers.
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When sunflowers are not mature, the young flowers will track with the sun. This is called heliotropism. This stops once they are mature, and most sunflowers will then face east.
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Sunflowers are native to America
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There are two main types of sunflower seeds. Black seeds, also known as Black Oil, are 45% richer in Sunflower oil and are mainly used in manufacturing. Grey seeds, also known as White seeds, are mostly used for snacks and animal food, such as bird seed.
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The scientific name of the common sunflower is Helianthus annuus.
Here is a link to the video Making of Dancing with the Sun showing the painting in process
Recent Plein Air paintings:
It’s officially Plein Air season with the days getting longer and the weather trying (not hard enough mind you). It’s a perfect time of year. No more parkas – although there may be gloves. Still a bit early for biting insects! and we have been very busy. Below are most of the recent work – but not all. I hope you enjoy.
YouTube Channels:
Oh, the many journeys of an artist from doing research, to taking reference photos, sketches, debate colours and values among ourselves, study the works and techniques of others. Dale Cook and I have been having fun learning how to produce and edit videos for YouTube that feature our natural banter and laughter. I (we) really appreciate you visiting. If you like what you see, please consider hitting SUBSCRIBE. Will really make me (us) happy! Thank you