Lilac Buds

'Lilac Buds' : Acrylic on Board : 5" x 7" (12.7 x17.8 cm)
Price : $100

SOLD / SWAPPED : 1 Oct 2006 : Thank you Andrew Henderson

After one art exhibition after another for a few months this summer, I was totally exhausted. While in town one day I treated myself to some cut flowers to take home as a pick-me-up. Hmmm, not only did I buy this bunch of purple flowers (the name of which I do not know) but I arrived home laden with a huge bunch of sunflowers and one of the usual mix of carnations and chrysanthemum. I took hundreds of digital images of them all for a couple of days running, as they opened their blooms further each day.

These delicate little buds, on slim stems, were so beautiful as they began to turn from purple to a rusty brown. None of the buds actually opened as a full, fresh flower (perhaps they'd been languishing in the supermarket for far too long) - but anyway I bought them for their rusty brown, red and yellow marks more than for their purple glory. And I kept them long after they had all drooped, just to enjoy their colours of old age. I'm pretty sure this won't be the last painting I'll do in their memory.