By Allison Malafronte
Denise Foster, Begonias, oil, 20 x 20.
Denise Foster has an affinity for flowers that extends as far back as her childhood in Tennessee. She recalls seeing a magnificent field of daffodils—which she grew up calling buttercups—behind a neighbor’s house one spring. The sight was so captivating that she climbed the fence, lay down among the flowers, and stared at the sky. “The color and fragrance just drew me in,” she recalls. “I remember all those little flower heads bobbing in the wind, the sun streaming through the petals, the clouds rolling by above—it’s such a distinctive memory.”
And a defining one. Today, Foster is a professional painter of more than 20 years, with florals as her primary subject and daffodils still her favorite flower to paint. Residing now in Kentucky, she looks forward to the annual start of spring, when a blanket of yellow and green blooms—including numerous daffodils— surrounds her. Recently, Foster painted SPRING BUTTERCUPS from an arrangement of daffodils she cut from her yard.
Denise Foster, Spring Buttercups, oil, 24 x 18.
The wonderful variations in the daffodils’ colors and shapes made this subject a joy for the artist to work on, as did abstracting their form. “My goal is to paint the effects of light on the colors of the floral arrangement,” Foster says. “However, instead of painting every little petal and leaf, I start out by putting in large areas of general color and then refine the shapes, giving just enough information so the viewer knows what flower it might be.”
Denise Foster, Moonflower, oil, 30 x 24.
Denise Foster, Last of the Summer Roses, oil, 24 x 18.
Foster paints other flowers as well, primarily from bouquets gifted to her, arrangements she buys, or stems cut from around her home. The artist prefers to paint in her studio, where she can arrange the setup to her liking and work with consistent light. The stories and moments the flowers symbolize are what prompt her to paint every time. To learn more, visit www.denisefosterfineart.com.
Denise Foster, Daisies, oil, 20 x 16.
This article is part of the Welcoming Spring: Floral Paintings to Collect portfolio.