STELIOSMORMORIS

ZINNIAS   30" x 30”   July 13, 2013   

 

Zinnias were a flower of childhood and reminded me of my mother and long hot summers in our suburban backyard. Zinnias are easy to grow from seed, and incredibly hardy and colorful with a longevity of bloom all the way through autumn. They are a reassuring subject.

 

The palette here was mostly red bordering on strawberry and pink—somewhat muted as if seeing it through a bleaching sheet of sunlight. Then, I mixed the red arrangements with a jumble of green which recalled the zinnias' dry green leaves.

 

At this point, I started topically applying, more than blending, brush strokes to more clearly articulate the gesture of actually 'painting'. But I also was trying to capture the 'layeredness' and 'crowdedness' of a bed of bright vigilant summer flowers.