"Essence" - In Defiance of Floral Snobbery

My work has evolved from abstract images, expressionist landscapes and now to flowers. Before, when people asked if I painted tulips, poppies or peonies, I would state "Anything, but flowers". With driven painting pursuits, I had already developed a sense of artistic snobbery. I once thought if an artist painted flowers that it was not even art in the true sense of the word. I was determined to create my own profile and become a landscape mixed-media artist:  it was against my deep sense of prevailing pride to paint flowers over and over again. I've changed my mind.

When I went to see the artwork by Georgia O'Keefe at the state museum in Santa Fe, I was inspired by the grandness of each flower portrayed, the dimensional brush strokes and beauty of each piece. The flowers were like bold portraits strutting their brilliance. It didn't take long to make an attitudinal adjustment toward those artists who paint flowers. I had not appreciated the complication of lines, the subtle changes of form, value and colour. The floral subject matter has awakened my eyes to the beauty, which surrounds me. The challenge for this art series is to represent an intimate, magnified and even sexy view of flora juxtaposed against neutral backgrounds to show off the flower subtleties.