24" by 36" acrylic and mixed media on cradled wooden panel.I'm pretty obsessed with the form of the curly leaved hybrid chrysanthemum. Unlike my usual mode of working from life, when I want that image I work from photographs. They are complex and I'm allergic to them. The drawn blue image is a plant called "Blessed Thistle" and was commonly used during the Middle Ages to treat the bubonic plague and as a tonic for monks. I got this image from one of my favorite copyright free resource books called "Handbook of Plant and Floral Ornament from Early Herbals."
This piece feels kind of different for me. Using a more limited palette this time made it so much easier to create unity than my usual mix of many colors. Also in this painting I used thick and thin paint and layers of collage to create a sense of space that has some breathing room to it. With a lot of my past work, it seems like my paint is thick throughout and gives the space a uniform feel. Does this ring true to you?
This painting will be in a Center for Contemporary Arts show that will combine paintings with floral arrangements called "Arte d'Fleur" I'll give more details later.
