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Insights
A conversation with Penny about her work.
Regatta Winds
Acrylic on Canvas
The title comes from a sailboat competition in Connecticut, when a storm suddenly came up and the wind forced the sailboats to be pulled in by the community boat. It was painted in 2022 in Sarasota, Florida, in my studio in St. Armund's Circle.
I enjoy the movement and the colors play on each other. I also love the combination of violet, yellow, blue, and turquoise. The deep blue colors keep drawing the eye back to the middle of the painting. The small sailboats in the background compete with the upfront winning sailboat.
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I never plan the painting, it just evokes and exhilarates me every time to completion. This painting is available for sale. DM me or go to pennystrong.com and click on Store.
Art Ovation #21
Mixed Media
This is a large painting 5 ft. tall by 4 ft. wide. I made this painting large to accommodate the new homes with large white walls.
I got a bit carried away with the dots in the water flower. The black, yellow, and white make the dots effervescent. I enjoy the texture of the smooth against rough, making sure not too much, not too little. Serene versus explosion.
It's a kind of ying (black) and yang (white) creating true balance. The work is so large that I had to make big strokes, and there's enough space to create the scene. But, you cannot see the finished product as you are working on it until you hang the work. You have to paint it flat and be open to the act of surprise. Painting is no fun without the act of surprise. It's very rewarding when you hang it each time.
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This painting brings nature upfront and real to your living room in a modern, contemporary style. This painting is available for sale. DM me or go to pennystrong.com and click on Store.
Art Ovation #35
Acrylic on Canvas
This is a medium size painting, 3 ft. square. I did this painting to complete a set of four different but alike paintings. They could work well together or separately.
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The background lends itself to the color of the rose, an indication of how you prepare the rose, allowing the pink to dance with the white. The layers of the center needed a focus pout and the more I worked the pistils became evident to bring your eye into the center. The rose turns as your eye turns counterclockwise.
The background is soft and the focus is strong. One of my favorite roses. This is the fourth in the series, with each rose being stylized a way that is a bit abstracted from the others. This painting is available for sale. DM me or go to pennystrong.com and click on Store.
Firefly #5
Lavender, Watercolor
As usual, I was trying to capture a feeling of chiffon - a delicate material mostly used for elegant dresses. I painted this on a manufactured silicone paper and applied layer upon layer, so as not to merge with each other (a difficult process). Once dry, you can add the next layer of color, removing any merging colors due to the silicone paper.
This painting is abstract and can bring the viewer into a lot of dimensions. The size of this painting allows you to geometrically revisit the colors. It's framed with a 2.5" black lacquer frame which makes the painting very dramatic; one of my favorites. This painting is available for sale. DM me or go to pennystrong.com and click on Store.
Untitled Work #11
Acrylic on Canvas
I began this painting with the background first, which required several layers which started to outline the dimensions. It was left alone for a while in order to not rush the abstract technique. I worked on micro details of this area for a long time. Once finished, I went back to the background to bring the yellow, pink, and grey into focus.
Not to rush it, I let it sit for a while once again. Movement developed once the background became apparent. Knowing when to stop became key. This painting is available for sale. DM me or go to pennystrong.com and click on Store.
Stardust
Acrylic on Canvas
The title is meant to describe the mystical elements of the painting. The colors from a previous painting were still on my pallet when I began this Stardust painting. The colors are modulated without them bleeding into one another. If you like gems, you can picture the Stardust being surrounded by an ocean of yellow and turquoise. This painting is available for sale. DM me or go to pennystrong.com and click on Store.
Firefly #2
Watercolor
These flowers are in the hydrangea, family fall season, just before the season ends. I approach the painting by putting color on the paper, not knowing what form it was going to take. Somewhat rare and unusual, with their deep burgundy splotches surrounding the background. I left the background a negative space and added swipes, reminding me of the lattice
There are rather dramatic colors and the size is done juxtaposing the lattice. The leaves play a dancing game with the space and negative space. The buds may remind you that the lattice is competing in the space. Sometimes color alone can be used to pull the eye back to a central or important place in the painting. But of course, the strong value contrast in the center of the main flowers is what keeps drawing the eye there. The whites are simply the white of the paper in a negative space; I almost never use opaque white or opaque colors. I just saved the white of the paper for my strongest white, leaving the plain water. This painting is available for sale. DM me or go to pennystrong.com and click on Store.
Firefly #7 / Dancing in the Wind
Watercolor
My second painting of these gorgeous poppies. Of course, I focused on the light and the subtle shades of yellow, burgundy, and orange in the flowers. The background eludes to the wind, moving the petals and the eye to see the movement of the delicate petals. I also tried to get a sense of the physical lightness of the flowers as well, and the way they swayed gently in the breeze.
That movement was conveyed primarily through the black centers, which flow in curvy lines throughout the painting, leading the eye down and around the painting. That strong upward curve of the stem of the seed pod directs the eye up to the right, and back into the top of the painting. The flowers are in sharp focus and hard edged. This painting is available for sale. DM me or go to pennystrong.com and click on Store.