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"Flowers of Eden" 2008
Oil on Canvas 16x20" |
Painting abstracts can be quite relaxing. I typically start out with a general idea of what I want to paint, yet my planning of the composition is minimal. When I approach this style, I like to use the colours strait from the tube, in their pure form, without adding medium, or mixing of the paints on the palette. The bright vibrancy that result from unmixed hues complements the free flowing nature of abstract art, and it enhances the enjoyment of the process. After giving my first abstract away, I had a strong desire to try the style again. I chose some of my favorite colours from my palette, squeezed them directly on to the canvas in such a way that I thought would prove to mix well as the paint blended, and I began painting without much further thought of how the painting was to evolve. In looking at the finished product, I thought that the swirls looked like flowers from another world, thus I titled the painting "Flowers of Eden" signifying that these flowers were coming from a long lost world that has long been absent of man's corrosive touch. As time has progressed, and my knowledge of science with it, the title that I have chosen for this pieces has ever become more fitting. As I have learned about the origins of life, from the perspective of evolutionary biology, I have come to understand that life evolved initially in the oceans before it progressed to land, and as Eden is the biblical origin of life, it was fitting that these flowers, which have the appearance of sea anemones, represent the flowers of an underwater Eden as life came into being.
