Original Oil Paint Landscapes by Julie Iffla News

A Bit of a Diversion

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:24:07 CST

Oh yes, the red flowers. Red is not my favorite color however I took a snapshot of a bed of these lovely flowers in full bloom last summer. I don’t even know what kind of flowers they are. I just loved how they looked with the light splashing on the tender delicate leaves. I had it in my mind that I would definitely try my hand at painting them. Two weeks ago they were urging me to put them on canvas. I don’t have any experience painting flowers but I have a clear understanding of light and shadows so I put my skills to the test on this one. I LOVE the way it came out and see more flower paintings in my future. I have this hanging on the wall in my studio and the flowers POP off the canvas. It is a happy picture. The piece is 14” X 18”. I will paint the next one on a much larger canvas reminiscent of and in homage to Georgia O’Keefe.

Do Other People's Birthday's mean I am Getting Older?

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:33:58 CST

My sister Jayne lives in Houston Texas. She is in the oil industry and maintains a high level, stressful career. Her life long love, and past-time has always been her horses. I took a trip to Houston in October to visit Jayne for her birthday. We are just 15 months apart in age and have always been close..(ok we have had our ups and downs but what sisters haven't?)

We ventured to a lovely horse facility outside of Houston where Jayne stables her horse Moe. She has had Moe for 10 years. He is so sweet and so gorgeous with his big burly muscles and perfect confirmation that I decided to snap some photos and do a painting of him.

He stands a little over 16 hands high and is expertly trained in reigning and cutting.

We had a great visit for Jaynes birthday.

What? Horses?

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:08:50 CDT

What's Up with the Three Stooges?

I grew up with horses. My two sisters and I were lucky enough to be raised with and around these awesome creatures. I have been thinking about beginning a “horse series” and so here you have the first piece of more to come. This featured work, “Mary, Harry and the Kid” reminds me of this quote written by Shakespeare about the horse, "...through his mane and tail the high wind sings, fanning the hairs, who wave like feather'd wings."
William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis

It might be fun to incorporate this piece into an "animal" series. My beloved pooch, Sammie, is a gorgeous yellow lab. I swear the dog can talk with his eyes. He has been my faithful companion for 9 years now. I would love to get him on canvas too. In the animal series, I am planning to do some cows, dogs, and of course more horses.

Sammie

Wow...I've been neglecting my blog....

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:31:31 CDT

It’s now the beginning of August and look at me! Haven’t posted a blog in months. Well you know how life gets in the way? I feel like I’ve been in an incubation chamber. In April, I left my corporate job for several reasons. As I am getting more mature (I will never admit to getting older) I took some time to assess my goals. I had put my brushes down for quite sometime, months in fact. I spent a long time thinking about whether to stick with the safe 9-5 job or get out of my comfort zone and work towards fulfilling my dreams and goals of being a working artist.

A Good Merlot Does Wonders

After 4 months of no inspiration and not painting, I poured myself a glass of wine (or two) and headed to the basement of our rented house where I have my painting studio set up. I had been contemplating for months how to paint this lookout piece that is featured here on the site. I must admit it took me several sessions to finish it which is completely out of the ordinary for the type of painting I do. Mostly with landscapes, you can finish a piece in a matter of hours. This lookout had me scared. I didn’t just want to “paint” a dilapidated building, but rather I was after capturing the peacefulness and presence of this sentinel.

Excuses, Excuses

In an effort to be economical, I have been photographing my work and posting on this site. With that being said, I can tell you that these photographs are just a reasonable facsimile of the original pieces. The colors and textures, the depth and perspectives of the originals are completely lost in translation. In other words, the art is sooo much better in person than what you see here. I am so pleased with the "lookout" that I am entering it in the Utah State Fair Fine Art competition to take place early September. Wish me luck.

After completing the lookout, I was re-inspired and went on to paint the Wyoming landscape scene featured here also. The photo is washed out a bit and here again the piece is rich with color and texture. This part of our country is incredibly beautiful.

Feels like spring is on it's way!

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:47:26 CST

Can you feel it? I can...the first stirrings of spring. There is a tree outside my front yard swollen with little buds just ready to pop open. I see some early bulbs already in bloom too.

It has definitely been a long winter and I welcome the sunshine and warm breezes with open arms.

I've been working so many dang hours at my day job, that is has been very challenging to put myself in the space to paint. I am working on a piece right now of a beautiful spot on top of a remote hill outside Jackson Hole in a small town named Bonderant. Up on top of this hill sits an old decaying look-out that just is begging to be painted. I have most of the piece blocked in, the sky is complete and I am working on the completion of it. Hope to have this done in the next week to add to the collection here.