Christina Rossetti (azaleas)

Mixed media and gold leaf on canvas.
24 x 30 (And this piece is wired to hang either horizontally or vertically.)

Beginning in the early months of COVID, when we were filling our time with walks and our environment was starting to heal, I have explored a series of nature/floral paintings. They juxtapose my love of precise line work against dreamy, abstract washes of paint.

While an individual flower may be fragile and short-lived, the natural world as a whole is infallibly cyclical. Humankind has damaged the earth, but we have not yet managed to stamp out the coming of spring flowers each year - a comfort during these tumultuous times, filled with worry over climate change. Seasonal flowers remind us to celebrate life’s beauty and transience while we can.

I’ve always had a passion for reading, and my paintings frequently incorporate tiny handwriting hidden within the images, as a reward for those viewers who look closely. So in this series, if you look closely you’ll find relevant nature factoids and/or quotes from famous poets about springtime. The title of each piece is the poet who I have quoted.