Vining Philodendron and Female
54”x17”
It started with a question of how to portray the human figure and plants in a painting. Then a model showed up during a group drawing session with a small plant of her own to use as a prop. She read my mind! Seeing Femmes au Jardin by Bonnard sent me on a path of Japanese-inspired, long vertical compositions with nods to Art Nouveau. I set up my plant under the lights in my studio and drew and painted studies of it while figuring out just how to set up the composition. Many thanks to my wonderful model who immediately grasped the concepts I threw out to her and effortlessly expressed them in her pose. This piece went through a handful of iterations and once almost settled, we scheduled a final session to lock the pose in place. It was incredible to see how a simple concept took on a life of its own.
- Subject Matter: Figurative