Rhododendron

I recently went to Mendocino, a dog trip that included friends from the local dog park.  We splurged and stayed at the Stanford Inn by the Sea, a dog friendly place that is luxurious for the humans as well.  The restaurant is purely vegan and eating there was quite wonderful.  Our dogs were allowed in this part of the dining room which had a blazing fire in their stone fireplace.


Prior to leaving for this trip, I had some bad news regarding a dear friend.  I had been in a state of numbness the week before and wasn't sure how sociable I would be.   But being there, watching the sunset from our deck, drinking a martini, made me feel better.  Every room has a deck and our deck faced the ocean and a beautiful garden.  Right below our deck was a beautiful rhododendron that got me thinking about my friend. The colors of the flowers reminded me of her - she is physically beautiful and one of the most kind and generous people I know.  Rhododendrons are generous plants, giving us a show of spectacular blooms.  So I thought, let me try to make an Edges painting with these magnificent colors.  It would be a good way to channel my concern for my friend.


Instead of cleaning up the image, I am showing it in the studio next to a couple of reference photos of the rhododendron.  As per usual, I brought the painting home to see  how it worked against different wall colors. It stood out against my blue walls almost to the point of being distracting.  The eyes went immediately to the painting - it might be difficult to do anything else in that room with that painting there!
I liked it enough to start a larger painting, 3 ft X 5 ft.


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