Hi Friends,
I am lucky/jaded about Dahlias. A neighbor very near me LOVES plate sized Dahlias. He has a entire garden of plate sized Dahlias. So, I am rarely looking for Dahlias. So, obviously the Dahlias have to find me. And they sure did.
We haven’t done much driving this year (thank you covid), but we were out in early November. On our way to shop for my 90 year old father. Since he lives in an independent living facility, this year has been very hard on him. One of the things I can do for him is be the errand runner: buying ice cream and other goodies, getting the supplements, and down to just getting some pens.
So, we were out running an errand driving in neighborhoods we haven’t seen for months. All the flowers are gone, so I am phasing out enjoying the ride. Yet, out of my peripheral vision, something triggered my flower-superpower. On the road behind us was a yard that still had Dahlias blooming.
Nothing makes me jump faster than flowers, except unexpected flowers. I swear, these flowers were yelling loudly for me to find them. They were! Outcome: George went onto the store to run the errand and I got transported to heaven. Dahlia Heaven.
But the story never ends. I got the pictures and found the good one, then posted. Easy-peasy. Then I start Getting Dirty. I have had a long hiatus from painting. Long... very long. So, I knew I wanted to Get Dirty with this flower, but I wanted to creep up on it. Dahlias are meant to overwhelm, and from a drawing standpoint — they succeed. So many petals. So many colors. So, when I sat down each day to pick an image, it kept creeping to the back of the line.
Finally, I was up to it. Boy can perception be off, or what?
I have some restrictions on my time. First and foremost is my wonderful “co-cameraman”, grandson Murphy. I Get Dirty during his naptime. I want to zone out and just create. That is tougher to achieve with a two year old’s help. I really try to get a painting finished during a naptime. Did I mention Dahlias can be overwhelming? This took 3 session and 3 videos.
But, I got it done.
I think Dahlias are overwhelming-ly BEAUTIFUL!
And I just had to share.
— Cynthia