Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Alchemical Flowers



This is an alchemical bouquet, composed only in artistic reality without a photograph or a real arrangement to copy. It was given to one of my artistic patrons, who ran a convention at which I was Guest of Honor. Since it was an esoteric convention, and I was painting esoteric flowers, I chose that theme for my art gift. These are the "Flowers of the Four Elements," each one signifying one quarter of the modern esoteric quaternity. The orange lily is Fire, the blue morning glory covered with dew is Water, the yellow rose exuding its perfume is Air, and the green fern is Earth. Above them is the purplish-black Iris of Spirit. The triangular symbol for each element hovers near the flower. The imaginary container for this cosmic bouquet is meant to look like a starry sky.

In the background is some geometric abstraction and a series of rainbow color lines. The rainbow stripes are in honor of my openly Gay patron, as the rainbow logo has become a symbol of Gay pride and rights.

This image was rescued from a very poor photograph with the miraculous power of Photoshop. It is amazing what this software can do.

"Flowers of the Four Elements" is watercolor on illustration board, 11" x 14, August 1989.

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