#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"

#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"
10x10 inches oils on canvas

This is number two of a planned trilogy of florist sunflower-inspired paintings. One of the sunflower blooms was simply placed on the table beside the studio easel. Some light was pointed at the careless arrangement and then I simply painted.

I was letting my hair down and charging the canvas - hoping that the creative juices would flow and be enough. If the visual imagery was not enough, I had a supply of perhaps a thousand or two CDs that my Brother had collected from people who were downsizing. Some of that music was really old and classic and was the soundtrack of the last century. The music brought back a lot of memories indeed. 

I almost goofed on the name of this painting. Thank goodness there was only one bloom and that I used the singular form of "sunflower". 

             A trilogy of sunflowers from COVID 2021                             

These sunflowers came from a florist in celebration of birthdays and a party held within the Singleton Sanctuary. I thought that the flowers were so beautiful after the festivities that they needed to be recorded for posterity in oils. A similar story happened in 2021 when I painted #2565 "Past Prime Sunflower Bouquet", #2566 "Sunflower Bouquet Last Daze" and #2567 "Wilted Sunflowers". 

I painted four works based on this particular 2023 group of sunflowers: 

#2785 "June Sunflowers"; 
#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"; 
#2787 "Sunflowers Still Shining" and 
#2788 "Sunflowers Last Day". 

A Quartet of Sunflowers from June 2023
The planned Trilogy became a Quartet

This article appeared in the local paper in 2020

There are many more sunflowers within my portfolio. These paintings were completed in a series of particular blooms with a story behind them as they dried out to become compost to nourish more flowers in the future. I have had a lifetime of affection for sunflowers. Like daisies, I look forward to painting them every year. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick