A Mother's Day Thought Train

This Mother's Day was wonderful. I love having my family around me, remembering all of the wonderful memories we have.

Gardenias have always been my favorite flower for remembrances. The complexity of white, which is ironically never painted in "white", but a multitude of color shifts to imply the form.

But anyway, I have a bush in my side yard. It had been covered by a vine for many years, and I had cleaned it up last fall. This was the first spring that it had given me HUNDREDS of gardenias!

The best quality of gardenias is the aroma. They are like jasmine in the way the floral notes hit the air. It's intoxicating! Sigh.

This painting was thick and juicy. I primed the canvas with some walnut oil alkyd medium and applied the paint unfettered. There are still a few layers and refinement left, but I would say this is at 90%.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there!