Nature’s Brightest Hues: Still Life Flower Paintings by Maureen Shotts

Published on Jul. 23rd 2008

Today’s featured artist is Maureen Shotts, a very talented painter from Alabama.

As I looked through Maureen’s online gallery, it was obvious that the rich, vibrant colors of nature take center stage in almost all of her artwork—and especially in her gorgeous paintings of flowers.

Misty Morning by Maureen Shotts

In Misty Morning, above, Maureen first arranged then painted a still life made up of primarily adjacent colors, creating a natural and pleasing color scheme for the focal point of the piece.

You’ll notice that the vase and flowers are placed so as to be “framed” by the background window (on the left) and shutter (on the right), adding even more emphasis to the subject matter of the painting.

Autumn Tango, below, also uses adjacent colors like greens and golds with bright splashes of orange as an accent—but this arrangement was set against a deep background of dark brown for a softer, richer feel.

Autumn Tango by Maureen Shotts

Of course I love those strips of colored cloth laid at the foot of the vase, simply echoing hues found in the flowers themselves.

My favorite painting by Maureen, however, is this one, entitled Hydrangeas.

Hydrangeas by Maureen Shotts

Stylistically, this last painting departs a bit from Maureen’s other pieces (a palette knife was used instead of a brush for much of the painting) but all I really noticed at first were those glorious pink petals.

The rest of the colors are fairly muted tones like creams, browns, and greens—but of course, that simply makes those hydrangeas leap off the canvas even more.

If you’d like to see more beautiful paintings by Maureen Shotts, please take a moment to visit her website at MaureenShotts.com.

Did you like this article?
Please stumble it so others will find it or check out the related posts below.
Today's featured artist is Jeffrey Smith, a painter and art teacher from Minnesota. Jeffrey's paintings encompass several genres, including portraits, still life paintings, and landscapes. I found all of his paintings fascinating—especially for their colors, which were soft yet strong. (I know. . . read more
Up until a few months ago Lois Eakin was a graphic design manager—now she paints full-time, in a rich and beautifully realistic style that hearkens back to the 17th century Dutch masters of still life painting. Many of Lois's paintings also exemplify the art technique known as chiaroscuro. In . . . read more
This week's featured artist is Debbie Miller, an illustrator and painter from Rhode Island. When I looked through Debbie's painting blog, I absolutely loved her free, illustrative style; so I decided to pick out three of her works to share with you. Sunnyside Up 2 is one of several bold, loose. . . read more
Today's paintings are by Barbara Geri, a Seattle artist who paints primarily in a plein air or Impressionist style. I chose to feature Barbara's paintings for two reasons: one, because each painting has a tremendous amount of energy and movement even on a very small scale—most are 6"X6"—and tw. . . read more
Stay current.
Subscribe to EmptyEasel's free weekly newsletter for artists. Sign up today!