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"Falling Blooms" 22 x 28 inches, oil on linen
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Finished this painting last week. The original set-up took place outdoors in the powerful light of noon day sun during the spring. I loved the drama that I could achieve with the available light. Only problem was that the light changed over time and so I was forced to use my reference photos for the last layers of the painting. The painting was completed with many glazes. Though it would have been more convenient to paint it alla prima, I don't think I would have been able to achieve the detail that I wanted in so short a space of time. Had let it be for a while because I was finishing up some other paintings but was glad to finally get back to it. Was very meaningful to paint the tulips in their various poses.
I see the meaning of my painting in two ways... one way is to imagine the one tulip as a metaphor for standing firm while others fall away. Another way is to view the falling blooms as a commentary on the inevitability of life being fleeting, temporal. It really struck a somber note with me to find myself completing this painting days after my father's sister passing. Yet the one bloom left at the top was also a reminder to me of something I truly believe-- that life triumphantly continues even after death. With that thought in mind, I could console myself as I completed it. Really miss my dad who passed away 3 years earlier and could not help but think of my dear Aunt beside him, in a beautiful place where flowers never fade.
" To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..." Ecclesiastes 3
