The Story Behind Love’s Bounty

It was a cold winter’s day in Coos Bay, Oregon. I was trying out a new workspace in the old Penny’s building. Upstairs, sitting on the floor, with a propane heater blasting away in the background, trying to heat a huge dark empty space, that’s where Love’s Bounty was created.

Call me sentimental, Love’s Bounty is a romantic painting about those huge bouquets that come with new love. The blossoms die, but the memories don’t.

Flowers are a celebration of life, a fruit of the earth that feeds our soul with their beauty. To receive a bouquet is to receive their sacrifice, so breathe in their beauty and their scent and feel as regal as possible.

Love’s Bounty is 44″ high by 30″ wide, a mixed media painting on somerset paper. She sold at my opening on June 4, 2005 at Fire and Rain Gallery in Folsom , CA. She was also the image chosen for the postcard announcing the show.

In 2007 I moved to Ventura, CA and came upon a beautifully done free newspaper called ‘Skirt’ Magazine. Each month they featured a different artist’s work on the cover. Geared toward women, the artwork is of the female figure. I couldn’t resist that, and immediately sent a few images of my work to the editor. They chose ‘Love’s Bounty’ for their November (Thanksgiving) issue that year. The best part was meeting so many women, with beautiful souls, who contacted me from across the country. I wish Skirt Magazine was carried in every town. I miss being able to pick one up each month. You can still check it out online at http://www.skirt.com.

So here’s something I’d like to share with you about my art and maybe a bit of helpful information to those artists who work in collage:

First off, I’m usually madly in love with each painting as I’m working on it, and I want to put everything into it: color, materials, textures, imagery, etc. I find I have to restrict myself from putting everything in or it gets cluttered. So sometimes I allow one painting to birth another and carry over a different color palette or a different feeling. Such is the case of Love’s Bounty. In 1996 while living in Greenwich Village, Robert, who is

now my husband, brought me dozens and dozens of flowers from the wonderful vendors on the streets of New York. New York is such a bountiful place to be and ‘Woman with Harvest Tulips’, a 44″high by 30″wide painting on paper was created. She sold through an art rep, Michelle Kabrall, out on Long Island.

The originals are sold, but you can purchase an embellished digital print through the Krieg Art Studio Store. It is beautiful.