Summer’s End, a commissioned painting of dahlais that reminded the collector of picking flowers with her children to bring to her mother. (2024), Pulp painting, 48 x 32 x 2 inches. Private collection.
So, I get a message from a lovely woman who wanted me to paint a dahlia garden for her newly redesigned home. She shared with me that dahlias were her favorite flower as they reminded her of her mother. When her children were young, they would pick Dhallas at a local cutting garden and bring them to her mother, who would place them in a glass vase. The old-fashioned feel of the flower, and the peachy-pink tone felt nostalgic, emotional, and worthy of a commemorating in a commissioned painting.
We started out walking through the same cutting garden that featured rows of dahlias. The rows were broken up only by rows of zinnias, purple, blush, and orange. Given the composition she envisioned did not match the rows of flowers, I created an imaginary garden based on a professional photograph taken by a friend. Eventually, the composition for the painting materialized and I was ready to create the painting that reflected her memories with her mother.
The photograph of the cutting garden.
After several aattempts at reconstructing the flowers as they appeared in the garden, it was clear the layout of the did not match what the collector envisioned for the painting, so I created an imagerinary garden from various sources.
The photograph that was the inspiration for the painting.
This short video shows the pulp painting process I used to create Summer’s End.
Here I am using a squeeze bottle to layer the pulp onto the surface and build up the flower petals. I am using abaca pulp that hs been beaten in my Hollander Beater for up to 20 hours and then pigmented with non-fading pigments. The pulp has a natural texture that mimics the textures of the garden, giving the medium a silky quality that flows smoothly and holds the pigment beautifully, giving the final work a vibrant surface.
When dry, it will maintain its textured quality, giving the painting an almost 3-D effect that recreates the appearance of the flowers in bloom.
My slogan “recapture the emotion of nature” comes from using pulp material as my painting medium.
I sit with this painting every morning while I have my coffeee. Each time, I try to find my favorite area. And every day, I find a new area to call “favorite.”
