It’s that time or year again, well almost that time of year again, when one of my most favorite flowers ever pops up from the ground and blooms its beautiful, funky, purple self. Every Fall I plant more Allium bulbs, knowing that my Spring will be so much the better for it. When I see the first signs of their bright green leaves emerging from the cold, Spring ground, I am like a small child on Christmas morning.

  There are many, many different varieties of allium (otherwise known as the onion family) but my two favorites are Allium Giganteum (giant allium ) and Allium Globemaster. Both display brilliant, puffy globes of purple in May/June; when planted in large numbers the effect is spectacular.

In honor of my flower bestie, I try and paint a few Allium paintings each Spring. I start by understanding the form of the flower. Hundreds of tiny, tiny spokes jut out from one central point, creating a sphere of stems; on the end of each spoke/stem is a tiny purple flower. Side note: If you haven’t stared into the trippy depths of an allium puff, I highly recommend it. Life changing.

I then do my best to mimic this spherical perfection onto my canvas. I love painting the purple allium on a backdrop of bright orange- I use gauche to get this brilliant hue. This allium painting was created using acrylic paint, gauche and colored pencil.

       And a close-up Allium....

  * Like this? You can reserve one of this Spring's allium paintings! Email me at rvelladesign@gmail.com for more information.