This unfinished piece is the third in the Stripes series (“Russian Warship” and “I Need Ammunition, Not a Ride” are the first and second). This painting is my prayer for Ukraine, and unsurprisingly, the overarching metaphor is salvation. Like Gauguin’s “Vision After the Sermon”, the picture is divided into two sections — the lower represents the material world, and upper is the realm of the divine. In Weeping Sunflowers the background has yellow and blue stripes, bounded by red. The darkened, blood spattered lower area has two crouching flowers … weeping … and also bowed in prayer. The bottom flower has two very droopy leaves, suggesting the end is near. The vase looks like an urn, earthy and blood-soaked. The lilies, signifying rebirth and regeneration, kind of glow, and illuminate the upper portion of the composition. The central, heavenward facing sunflower is renewed by the light …. its leaning stem has taken a turn upward. The frame, integrated into the composition represents fire. I’ve included my usual Biblical numerology — twelve stripes, seven lilies (two on the cusp of opening), and three sunflowers.
Really hoping I can finish this tomorrow. Not sure what’s next.
