Decorative Flowers #2 | Sunflower

#76/365 Paintings
Amongst my favorite flowers are poppies, gladiolas, lilac, gardenia, star lilies (the ones that smell good) But at the very tip top of my list is the sunflower. It is so tall and powerful—bold and beautiful. And gosh so productive. So much going on right at the center. In constant baby making mode; seeds, seeds, seeds. My rabbit has a dose of sun butter everyday to keep his aging skin moisturized. Such the prima donna. He loves it though. So today’s painting is to say “Hey sunflower, thank you! And, I love you. And so does my rabbit, Dakota.”
Tulips are my favourite flower because they are also strong and bold and can stand alone. Sadly they are short lived and not very useful. They don’t even smell nice, haha. But for my wedding I had sunflowers everywhere, even on the cake 🙂 they are typically representative of Tuscany of course. In my house we have an oil painting with old olive trees and red poppies on the ground. Since we bought the painting last year in Aix en Provence, France, I have started a new love for poppies too 🙂
Loving this flower series!
Would love to see what you can do with wisteria 🙂
We used to have one that was a canopy over the terrace and in Spring it was magical like watching purple snow fall delicately to the ground. Brings back fond memories of my first Italian holiday with my now husband.
I love the blue heart to this sunflower – it seems like a mirror to the sky, or maybe it has drawn in the whole ocean. On another glance, it looks like the earth, as if the whole globe and all of the glorious things on it is hidden there. There is that zen myth that you can see the world looking into a flower, and I think this flower has stepped forward to offer itself as a candidate.
I love the richly textured layers of paint in this piece. It looks like a painting that could be appreciated just as fully through the sense of touch as through sight.
Thank you for your generous and heartfelt comments. This particular painting looks better in person. Very textural. I love your metaphors William… ocean, sky, earth. Resembles my appreciation of the sunflower. And Leah… oh, I would have loved to have been at your wedding with tons of sunflowers. I think I would love Tuscany. I’ve just been once on a bike ride vacation. It went by very quickly. Want more. And yes, Lis… this once is a sensory painting for sure.