As much as I enjoy flowers in their natural setting, or even in a vase, and despite my fondness for still life painting, I have to admit that florals are not among my favorite subjects for paintings. There are exceptions, of course, in which the subject is handled in unusual ways, but direct close-up paintings of flowers rarely appeal to me.
Despite that, Diane Hoeptner, an artist based in Ohio, managed to capture my attention with her floral still life paintings when I first came across her blog.
The appeal for me is not so much the subject itself, but her relaxed painterly approach, rich with casual but luxuriant brushstrokes defining both the flower forms and vessels in which she places her subjects. (Those, in fact are part of the appeal for me, in that I do particularly like still life subjects that include glass jars or vases filled with water.)
Together, the brush marks, paint handling, glassy reflections and often subdued color work to create a strong visual appeal.
Hoeptner (pronounced “hep-ner”) formerly lived in California, where she studied Studio Art at California State University, Northridge and worked for several years as a digital animator for video games and film.
Hoeptner’s floral paintings vary in size, most seem to be around 8×8″ (20x20cm), as in the case of the image above (with detail, larger version here), or 22×22″ (60x60cm), as you can see in photographs of her work in the studio or outdoors.
In addition to her blog, Hoeptner has a web site with galleries of her paintings, some of which are of other subjects like cats or small toys. She also has a presence on eBay where she sells much of the work shown on her blog.
Addendum: There is an interview with Hoeptner on Pat Washington’s blog.
[Via Mick McGinty (see my posts on Mick McGinty)]
