Dimensions: 21x28cm
Painted: 2009
Materials: Acrylic on MDF board
Private collection
The story behind Orange flowers
They look like cheerful orange daisies. They are not. The common name for these flowers is orange pigface — Lampranthus aurantiacus — a succulent ground cover that blankets itself in blooms of almost aggressive intensity. The color is not decorative. It is a demand for attention.
Painted from close range, the composition has no background to speak of — just flowers filling the frame edge to edge, stems and leaves threading through the gaps. That density is precisely what made this small painting so time-consuming. Color, detail, and scale all conspired against a quick resolution. It took considerably longer than the modest dimensions would suggest.
There is a case to be made that flowers are an entirely legitimate subject for serious painting. The Dutch masters made it. The public has always agreed. The art world has spent the better part of a century pretending otherwise.
Source image of realism painting Orange flowers
