I recently embarked on a collaboration with my very talented friend and photographer, Liz Daly. A photographer and sometimes sylist, Liz has a keen eye for light, rich color and contrast- all areas that are super important to me in my work, too. Check out her portfolios here to see more of her stunning images. 

I have always been interested in the relationship between photography and painting, and I use photos constantly as reference and inspiration for my work.  I think a lot about what visual information to include from reference photos, and what to leave out.  My camera is one of my most important tools I have as an artist- I use it all the time to document colors, patterns, shapes and imagery that I store away for later use.

Liz and I thought it would be interesting to pair our images side by side to look at the relationship between our mediums more closely. For the first in our series, Liz teamed up with stylist Rebecca Summer and shot a series of gorgeous photos combining graphic and botanical elements, and I chose one of them to paint. I loved her image of the framed peonies immediately when I saw it, because of it’s vintage color vibe, and the interplay of geometric and organic shapes. I love how the bold black and white ribbon cuts through the center of the photo and draws your eye around the shape of the vintage picture frame.  

Liz and I have more ideas in the works for the coming months. For now, have a look at our first collaboration.

Left: Photo by  Liz Daly , Styling by Rebecca Summer. Right: Painting by Lindsay Gardner , Watercolor and gouache on paper, appx. 7 x 10″ 

Photo by Liz Daly  , styling by Rebecca Summer

Painting by Lindsay Gardner , Watercolor and gouache on paper, appx 7 x 10″