Where am I?

I feel the menace of my solo show in May breathing down my back. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it ties me in knots. Today I am in knots. I'm finally coming to the end of my very detailed visual slices of the garden which focus on an up-close view of many of the things that go unnoticed by visitors. I'll write more about how I came to choose this unusual format for my garden pieces nearer the completion of the work. But here's a little to move us along....

While the work looks extremely realistic it is not real. Each work is constructed from multiple views and angles of the same scene. These constructions are similar to the kind of collapsing that occurs with our memory of experiences as time adds her cloak. I plan to have 16 or 18 painting of this format depending on how severely I cull my work before the show. It's a good thing they are coming to an end because I don't normally work with this much detail and my neck is killing me.

These dainty little rock roses are exquisite with their centre sparkle. They are flowers that give their all and then quickly fizzle into a rain of petals. Their temporary nature appeals to me in the same way that the daylily plant does. They are reminders not to waste too many precious minutes of our lives. The abstracted, organic, root like background at the top references the cyclic nature of the plant kingdom. I don't have a title yet and I think I'm finished the painting.

The works in this series are more about pattern and less about highly realistic rendering. When you size them up closely, I've broken many rules. I'm struggling with providing enough information to form the plants and make them recognizable and realistic. I've constantly played with depth and scale, used limited shadows and take great liberties with point of view to create a more patterned effect.