Painting of the Week

Painting of the Week – New Project

New Project by Fargo Artist Ellen Jean Diederich

Varying a dominant color can give life to a painting.

Here is an old friend you may have worked with lately. This painting is of my Dad’s wheelbarrow I used on the farm. It went from a concrete mixing basin in Wayzata to a dirt hauling tool in Staples, Minnesota. Lately I have been hauling dirt. My flowers at the lake did poorly last year. It was time to replace the charred acid looking dirt with some Miracle Grow Garden Soil purchased at the new handy Ace Hardware store. Wow, was my rear end sore after that. Thank goodness I had a trusty wheelbarrow to haul the dirt back and forth. I will remember my back when I get excited about colors at the garden store.

New Project of 2002 was painted with much feeling. Featuring a dominant palette of green spiced up with its’ complement red, it is simple and expressive. I went to great trouble to vary the greens in this piece from cool to warm and light to dark, creating a repetitive rhythm. I also love the variations of color in the three prong fork. Because of our watering system, I miss using one after stabbing the underground hoses into repair. The fork was a good memory and very interesting to paint. The red wheelbarrow is also full of the blessed petunias. Their light pink color, also in the red family, gives a balance of 3 red shapes against the preponderance of greens.

Learn to vary your greens. As one of the darkest colors, they have a huge value range (light to dark) and you can push them warm to cool. Varying your greens will give life to your landscapes.