Peony Leafer

Last week I worked on finishing up this art heart for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement. It’s for a particular patron in the Circle of Red Society. She donates money and enthusiasm toward promoting heart health for women, and I donate artistic creativity (and enthusiasm) making this art heart specifically for her, specifically because of her sizable monetary donation. For the edges of the heart, I made my own simple peony leaf design stencil out of thick stiff paper, in this case grocery sacks. Because I wanted to alternate the direction of the leaf without waiting for the oil paint to dry in between painting, I went ahead and made two stencils, orienting them left and right.

Here’s what it looks like with the peony leaf stencils painted around the edge — not too busy but not too plain, either. I quite like it. It’s my first time using stencils in one of my paintings. In his later years, Henri Matisse used paper cut outs and stencils extensively in his work, so I’m in good company using this process. Plus, Matisse is one of the favorite artists of the lady who will eventually get this heart. So there’s that.