Murasaki #1

These succulents are one of my favorite plants from my expanding garden. They have a special place on a table just outside of my back door. I pass them in the mornings going out to my studio to work, or anytime I’m going out to paint. I captured a few pictures of them one afternoon in the bright sun, then soon after again following a rain. I considered doing two large paintings of the same size, one in each state. But while doing the first drawing I fell in love with some of the details of the plants (they’re not flowers), and decided I wanted to do smaller detail pieces as well. Given the complexity of the first painting, I thought doing one of equal size with rain drops would be too much to take on… and if I pulled it off, it might outshine its sibling. So I decided to make the last piece, with rain drops, the same height but in a narrower, vertical format. I’m glad that I did — they all go together so well! Murasaki #1 is a big, beautiful painting dominated by bright blues and gorgeous, peaceful purples. It’s a work that is both calming and electric, depicting a subject that is both recognizably floral, but foreign. These don’t look like normal plants; they don’t even look real. But there are other plants in the background, and dirt and rocks in the flower pot, that utilize a more natural palette to ground the viewer. This setting serves to emphasize how otherworldly the succulents are, bursting out of the composition in a gentle explosion.