Flower Thief Painting

Part of my "Normal Heights" series. The hubby and I like to go on evening walks around our neighbourhood Normal Heights. After living here for more than a year, I realised that the best flower-watching season in San Diego is the summer. I get so taken away by the beauty of the flowers that my husband has to grab my hand and pull me along the sidewalk, because otherwise I would just be stealing flowers from the front yards of our neighbours left and right! And this is what inspired this painting as well. The flowers that you see, I have to confess, come from the neighbourhood. (Dear neighbors, if you see this article, please forgive me... your flowers were sacrificed for art, and I swear I only took flowers that were growing outside of your yard.) To complete the bouquet, I got some flowers from our own yard. I wanted to to create a certain type of “California wabisabi” feeling for this summer vase, so I did not add any decorative leaves or other stuff, it looks like just what it is. Here is the list of flowers: kysuma grass, bougainvillea, firewheel (it already lost its flower petals), showy honey-myrtle, kangaroo paws, lion's tail. Fun fact: After researching the name for each flower, I realised that there is only one flower that originally grows in United States ... the rest are all immigrants! lol