SIZE:
60”W x 60”H x 2.5”D

DETAILS:
Original acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas
Signed by the artist on the front
Sealed with a matte varnish protectant
Certificate of Authenticity provided

”I planted sunflower seeds with my son in March, at the beginning of the quarantine having no idea if they would yield flowers, but hopeful for their growth. He measured himself against their stalks, gradually outgrowing him, myself, and even my husband. In what felt nothing short of a kaboom moment, we recently witnessed their first blooms, radiant in the sun, full of color and light - and to me, the hope that blooms when something grows out of the simplest beginnings.

I look to them every morning while brushing my teeth, as they grow taller, more colorful, even as some weather the roughness of playful squirrels, or strong winds, or fat summer rain. Yet there they stand, my beacon that today is new, yesterday achieved, tomorrow on the horizon - and I can choose to do more than weather a new day, but to stand tall and live colorfully.

I had a strong urge to capture these blooms - my favorites being the ones that were only partially open. Half of the flower shining in bright yellow petals, and the remainder still green, growing, thoughtful yet timid. Half in its new life, half in its old. Clinging on to what it knows, the safe shell of its core, unsure if it should open itself to vulnerability - not yet knowing the sunshine awaits.

I tried numerous ways to bring these blooms to life, testing out different mediums - thread, wood, paper, but all of them felt too small for such an important presence and symbol in my life. I knew I had to go big, bringing this strong pull to express this idea, to canvas, with paint.

I started studying these personal symbols of hope. Observing the blooms very closely, I noticed the most intricate pattern inside the sunflower, spirals upon spirals, that contained miniature blooms, or florets. The bees swarming to the tiny florets contained within the sunflower. I later learned the sunflower adopts these spirals to create the highest amount of florets in a given space - florets that will attract bees to help it propagate. Creating space in our lives to attract what will help us grow and expand. The sunflower making room to fully express its magic - the true beauty, to me, not in the shiny buttery petals, but in the intricacy of its core.

As I researched these spirals more, in what came to feel very serendipitous, I learned the spirals mimic the concept I studied in engineering school - the Fibonacci spiral. That the number of spirals of florets within the sunflower also reflects the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence. The sequence simply being that each new number is created by adding the two numbers that came before. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 and so on.

We are this sequence. We are a sum of our days, our experiences, our journey, our story, our struggles, especially during this time, right where we are. They all have a weight and a meaning. They build towards something beautiful and connected, with purpose and even divine design. We are a culmination of each new day, moment of love shared, kindness expressed towards ourselves and others - it all adds up. The past builds towards our future. It all matters. We are building something in ourselves.

As someone struggling with meeting the changing needs of my family during this pandemic, as I'm adjusting temporarily away from full time artist to full time mom, where days start to become indistinguishable from one another - shifting my mindset to acknowledge that all the days prior are not for naught, but are building something in me, to become stronger, more resilient, more true.

The squares seen in this painting, representing the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence, start off small, 1"x1". By combining these two squares, you then get a bigger one, 2"x2". And then you add those two squares, yielding an even bigger one, and so on. These blocks, while strong and rigid in form, in contrast gradually produce a flowing spiral within, ever expanding, touching more, becoming more. A spiral created by starting from something small, and building on itself, a sum of its previous experiences, becoming something more beautiful than what existed only a short time ago. This sequence, this spiral, utilized in mathematics, statistics and science, mirrors that found in nature - from shells to pineapples, and most notably in the sunflower. A harmony and order to our lives and our experiences.”

SHIPPING:

Available for free local delivery within Dallas/Fort Worth.
* For free shipping within the US, this canvas will ship rolled in a tube. A local framer will be needed to re-attach it to stretcher bars. If you prefer the painting to arrive on its stretcher bars, shipping charges will be calculated and billed separately. Please email mione@mioneplant.com if you would like a a shipping estimate prior to purchase.