Lexi Sundell

The Tulip is another small acrylic painting, 12″ wide by 16″ high, which was created for my recently completed book. While the flower itself is an important part of the painting, the leaves carry a great deal of the interest in this painting. The curving forms of the leaves catching the slanting light invited my paint brush instantly.

This particular tulip actually managed to bloom in my yard one miraculous spring when the deer did not devour them all. I rarely have good fortune with my tulips so this one was certainly worth celebrating with my paints!

This painting is available at RiverStone Gallery in Ennis, Montana.To give as a gift or to enjoy for yourself, giclee prints of this painting are available.

Hibiscus Path 48″ wide by 36″ high, is a dramatic flower painting which conveys the rich colors of the hibiscus against a golden brown background. This painting is a real eye catcher. It remains for a brief time at RiverStone Gallery until the people who commissioned this painting are home to receive it when it is shipped to them.

A floral painting with this much energy creates a powerful atmosphere in a room which can bring smiles every day one lives with the work. As you can probably see from the flower itself, I had a wonderful time painting this one!

To give as a gift or to enjoy for yourself, giclee prints of this painting are available.

Apple Blossom is a small acrylic painting, 12″ wide by 16″ high, which I painted for my recently completed book. I wanted to create the feeling of apple blossoms in spring as I experienced them as a child in our old apple orchard. The trees were wonderfully twisted and gnarled, perfect for a young girl to climb and sit among the blossoms.

The lovely greens of spring are delightfully welcome after winter and the blooms themselves promise a wonderful summer to come.

This painting is available at RiverStone Gallery in Ennis, Montana. To give as a gift or to enjoy for yourself, giclee prints of this painting are now available.

White Gossamer is a large acrylic painting, 60″ wide by 48″ high, and has a painted gallery wrap edge so it was hung without framing. This gives a contemporary look which worked well when the painting found a home where it was displayed over a black leather couch.

The boldness of the painting let it appeal to a man while still having the delicate transparency of ever-so-thin poppy petals. That transparency effect was important to create with just the right balance, or the painting would have failed. As it is, I feel I acheived the desired look and feeling with it.

To give as a gift or to enjoy for yourself, giclee prints of this painting are still available.

Orchid at Midnight, 38″ wide by 31.5″ high, is an acrylic on paper painting which received a Juror’s Choice award in Blossom: The Art of the Flower. This international competition was sponsored by the Susan Kathleen Black Foundation. I was deeply pleased because this is definitely one of my favorite paintings.

The orchid emerges from darkness with pronounced shadows and pastel colors glowing softly in the dim light. The heavy watercolor paper takes the paint well and lends itself to the subtle look of the bloom.

To give as a gift or to enjoy for yourself, see the giclee prints of this painting.

Rose Deva, 50″ wide by 48″ high, is an acrylic on canvas painting which celebrates the incredible qualities of light reflecting through glass and water. The shadows dance to life as the roses add their color to the richness of the painting.

I enjoy creating flower bouquets and looking at their remarkable shadows in the low slanting rays of the winter sun. It is a fine antidote to a long Montana winter!

This painting is available at the Lawrence Gallery in Portland, Oregon.To give as a gift or to enjoy for yourself, see the giclee prints of this painting.

Horse Bells, 30″ wide by 40″ high, is a departure from the floral series of paintings. These old bells hung in the Diamond J barn and attracted the my eye. I had taken Gerry Mooney, a photographer, to the ranch to host a photography workshop. During the workshop I saw the bells and shot them for future reference. Gerry then used them as a backdrop for a portrait and also photographed them separately. Actually, after I found the bells, everyone photographed them!

The advantage to using brushes and paints instead of a camera is the ability to omit unneeded elements cluttering the composition while refining color placements and the lines of the composition.

I really found painting this strong composition most enjoyable. Weaving the multi-colored ropes in and out of the shadows created depth and richness in the painting while offsetting the the more subdued tones in the painting. After the deadline forced intensity of doing dozens of floral paintings for my most recent book, I was ready to paint a different category of subject!

This original painting is available at RiverStone Gallery, a contemporary western art gallery. To give as a gift or to enjoy for yourself, see the giclee prints of this painting.

Creation, 36″ wide by 40″ high, is the first acrylic floral painting I did after creating the long series of paintings for my book, The Acrylic Flower Painter’s A-Z of Flowers. You can see the freedom of movement and joyous use of color that was unfettered by the requirement of photographing the work at four different stages during the painting process.

Actually, photographing at four different stages was not too bad. After awhile I got into a rhythm and had the habit of knowing when I needed to stop working in a certain area until I had photographed that stage, in order to present the distinct stages of creation in the painting.

It became really hard on the last painting for the book, a complex peony, which had to be photographed in nine stages to present a more in depth presentation of the process. I almost felt contained in a strait jacket trying to do that.

So this painting was a wonderful celebration of being able to freely paint without any interference from camera work. I could paint whatever area to whatever degree the spirit moved me, and I certainly did!

This painting is available at RiverStone Gallery in Ennis, Montana.To give as a gift or to enjoy for yourself, see the giclee prints of this painting.