This painting was actually not commissioned in your usual sort of manner. I am part of the Willow Library Association here in Willow, and our librarian was retiring. She has been such a force for good in our community and has become a dear friend.

In our last meeting in May we discussed what we could do for a retirement gift for her. The Association settled on a piece of artwork and asked me if I would be willing to paint it. Of course I would! This is how that piece of art came about.

When asked to paint it, the instruction was make it Alaskan and have it for her party in August. As our librarian is leaving the state to be closer to family, we wanted something that would remind her of her time here. This is a broad subject matter, and for a while I wasn’t quite sure what I’d like to paint.

The Inspiration

On my fridge I have a calendar made by my daughter Katie Richey Photography. As I was pondering what to paint, I turned over to June and she had a picture of Portage Glacier with fireweed in front of it. A beautiful picture, which got me thinking.

But, I still wasn’t settled. That wasn’t quite what I wanted. I love painting flowers, but usually closer up, not a landscape with flowers in it. I love painting landscapes, but rarely do I add flowers in any detail. I wanted this painting to be Alaskan, but also Stephanie Richey. I waited for more inspiration.

I still had time, so I waited. July came and I flipped the calendar page again. The Arctic Fireweed, set against the mountain peaks of Hatcher’s Pass. Very Alaskan, and very Willow. I loved the picture.

As my daughter is usually pretty willing to let me paint from her photographs, I called and asked her if I could use that picture as my inspiration and she said that was fine with her. Often when I am doing a painting from a photograph, I will transfer exactly the photo. But I didn’t want to copy it exactly and it was also the wrong size for what I wanted.

Starting to Take Shape

I grabbed a piece of copy paper that was 11×14, almost the exact dimensions I wanted, and I began to draw, using her picture as the inspiration. I knew for sure I wanted the faded mountains in the background, the fireweed as the main focal point, and some greenery at the bottom.

I threw in a line for reference of about where the mountains would be, they weren’t quit the same, I just needed a reference line for my fireweed. I sketched out flowers all over the front, not even adding stalks as to where they actually went. I decided to figure that out later.

I added a leaf here and there to the drawing, but decided to leave the bottom undrawn, wanting the greenery to be somewhat spontaneous, and not really detailed so the eyes didn’t fixate there.

Then on to transferring. I thought I’d do a quarter sheet of paper, 11×15. But then, looking through my already cut sheets I found one that was 12×18 and decided that would be even better. I transferred most of my drawing, and then used a pink watercolor pencil to redraw the lines so I could see them a little better but they’d disappear as I painted the flowers.

The Painting Process

I started with the background. The sky in the photo was white because of the clouds, so I decided to leave it as the mountains were very blue below. This added nice contrast. I didn’t want the mountains to be in focus, just a nice, fuzzy look, sending them far back in the painting. This was accomplished using a wet on wet technique.

I wet the entire paper for the first layer, and as the mountains were in, I proceeded to lay in some background pinks and greens as my foundation for the next steps.

Once it was all dry, I started in on the fireweed. Arctic fireweed is a much deeper purple than the fireweed we get down in the valley. It also grows on a much smaller plant. I used a pink and blue mix for a light pink/purple color for the fireweed blossoms, I added a stronger pink mix for the little buds yet to be opened, and faded some of the fireweed into the greenery by adding more water and just dropping in some color here and there.

The flowers had their first layer so I moved on to the greenery, fading from darker to lighter green as I moved from the bottom up, adding in light and dark leaves as I went. I didn’t want to do much here as it wasn’t the focal point, so that part was a quick process.

Back to the flowers. I added shadows around pedals, some veining, and the dark purple pedals that protrude out around the lighter ones. Then to the centers. This is where I varied from the original picture. The arctic fireweed have a darker purple center that looks almost the same as the pedals. The fireweed here in the valley has a white center. I like the white contrast, so white it was.

There were a few finishing details, adding in stalks and stems from flowers to stalks, and then it was finished. I had it professionally framed and then wrapped it in brown paper so it was ready for the event.

The Celebration

It funny, I am not afraid of public speaking, but I still don’t like to do it. But I had the opportunity to do it anyway, and said a few words that I cannot even remember. She then had the opportunity to unwrap the artwork. It was such a fun celebration. She told some fun stories about some of the odd, funny, and memorable moments of being the Willow Librarian, and many people shared their thanks for her and her many years of service. She will be greatly missed, but I wish her well on her upcoming adventures!

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