“Paradise in the Garden” is 36 x 36, and mostly paint with some oil crayon on canvas. It started with many photographs of birds of paradise that I saw while pushing my granddaughter in her stroller near their apartment in Los Angeles. I love birds of paradise, but haven’t been able to grow them in my own yard. This canvas started with paint. Random paint, just one color at first, covering the canvas pretty randomly. I started it in a workshop, and I was a little late, so I just grabbed what I thought was yellow green: it turned out to be quasi-metallic, and smelled awful, but oh well! There was no plan but to cover the canvas. Other colors were added, and immediately reminded me of photos of birds of paradise, so I used one as a reference and drew it over the random paint. I was working for a balance between recognizing the flower without becoming too realistic. Eventually the canvas got heavier than I liked, and I spent a lot of time sanding away what I didn’t like. To me, the flower takes on just enough of a bird-like quality to be interesting.
This painting has been sold at $450
