spring

Blossomtime

final painting of pink cherry trees lining a footpath bordering Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand
| Anna Cull
final painting (cherry trees lining a footpath bordering Hagley Park in Christchurch, NZ) presented in the context of a line-drawn living room to give an idea of the size
‘Blossomtime’ acrylic on canvas, 610 x 510 mm, 2024. Available.

Fluffy pink popcorn
Leaps from ten thousand branches:
Spring in slow motion.

It’s strange to be posting a painting of spring in the first week of winter! (Okay, so it won’t seem at all strange to those of you in the northern hemisphere.) Christchurch’s Hagley Park is always a picture when the blossoms pop. I’ve been meaning to paint this scene for ages… and now here it is.

  • the photo reference that inspired the painting of pink cherry trees in full blossom bordering Hagley Park in Christchurch, NZ
    Photo reference
  • work in progress underpainting in greys, white and yellow ochre
    WIP 1
  • work in progress adding pale blue and more detail to the landscape
    WIP 2
  • work in progress adding green and more details to the landscape
    WIP 3
  • final painting of pink cherry trees lining a footpath bordering Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand
    Final

No charcoal sketch this time ~ just straight in with brush and paint. ‘Blossomtime’ will be part of this month’s exhibition at the Down by the Liffey Gallery.

THE REAL AND THE SURREAL EXHIBITION
WEDNESDAY 12TH JUNE — SUNDAY 7TH JULY
DOWN BY THE LIFFEY GALLERY, 1 JAMES STREET, LINCOLN, CANTERBURY, NZ

The other artists exhibiting will be potter Della Goodinson and painter Georgette Thompson.

Spring Snow

painting study of snowflake flowers with tall trees in Hagley Park, Christchurch, New Zealand. Painted in an abstract style with lots of texture
| Anna Cull
‘Spring Snow’ acrylic on canvas, 155 x 155 mm, 2023. Available.

Here’s another small offering ready just in time for my solo exhibition at The Bridge Hub Gallery. ‘Spring Snow’ is a very textured study of snowflakes (the flowers) in Hagley Park. We still have another month before it’s officially spring here in New Zealand but these hardy little bulbs always show up early.

The exhibition ‘Diary of an Optimist’ 🙂 will start tomorrow and run until the last Sunday in August at The Bridge Hub, 51 Bridge Street, South New Brighton, Christchurch.

Spring Study

small acrylic painting study of pink blossoms, spring in New Zealand
| Anna Cull
a small acrylic painting study of pink blossoms, spring in New Zealand, by Anna Cull
Spring Study, acrylic on paper, 2022
  • a photo of a flowering plum tree in spring, New Zealand
  • a photo of a flowering plum tree in spring, New Zealand
  • a photo of a DIY cardboard viewfinder being used to crop a photo of spring blossoms
  • a photo of spring blossoms, New Zealand
  • a small acrylic painting study of spring blossoms by Anna Cull Art, New Zealand

The reference for this quick little painting was a photo taken using American artist Sister Corita Kent’s ‘finder’ method of using a DIY viewfinder to see the world one small piece at a time. It’s a very simple and very effective way of simplifying a scene to discover compositions that might otherwise not be obvious. And yes, once again the view outside my window (late August this year) has provided me with inspiration. 🌸 🌸 🌸

If you would like to learn more about artist, educator and activist Sister Mary Corita, I recommend starting with a visit to the Corita Art Center.

The World Looks Different Today

acrylic painting of pink blossoms against a blue sky background by Anna Cull
| Anna Cull
‘The World Looks Different Today’ acrylic on canvas, 155 x 305 mm, 2021. SOLD

Hi. It has been a few months since I posted anything here and I wanted to assure you that my social media silence is nothing to be concerned about. I am still here… I have been busy writing songs. My intention was to work on music and take a short break from painting for a month or so and, in the blink on an eye, it is now September and the first day of spring!

Yesterday I finally picked up a paintbrush again and this is what happened…

  • Photo reference
  • WIP 1
  • WIP 2
  • Final

Seasons come, seasons go

detail of a single daffodil in a field of grass, painted in acrylics in a semi-abstract style
| Anna Cull
‘The Language of Trees’ acrylic on paper, 148 x 210 mm, 2020
‘The First Daffodil’ acrylic on paper, 148 x 210 mm, 2020. SOLD

I have so many painting ideas waiting in folders that I’m in no danger of suffering from “artist’s block” any time soon… but then there are so many ideas, sometimes I’m at a loss to know which one to paint next ~ so maybe that is a kind of “artist’s block” after all. In an effort to reduce the backlog, I’ve started a series of small studies on paper ~ and I’ll be choosing the subjects more or less at random, so anything might happen : )

The first two to get picked from my ‘photos to paint next’ file are a tree dripping with autumn leaves (2017) and a daffodil positively radiating sunshine (2013)…