These bird of paradise flowers were growing in the front yard of a home in the Marine Street-Wind-and-Sea part of La Jolla, CA.
As a result of the La Jolla Festival of the Arts in June 2009, I was asked to submit three ideas for the poster art for the 2010 festival. What an opportunity! I flew down for the day to scout out ideas with my camera. It was mid-September and a gorgeous day. This is a small bit of the strip of flowers growing on the street-side of the fence enclosing an amazing-looking garden. I perched to get the view through the flowers towards the Pacific Ocean.
I painted this one with the prospect that the festival organizers might choose it to be the poster. They decided to have me paint another one Lunch at La Valencia, making this one available to another home! I’ve been wanting to paint bird of paradise flowers, and have not been inspired until this one; the fence along the left and the h1biscus and bougainvilla in the background softened the composition and rounded out the color palette.
I really wanted to name this one simply “On the Way to the Beach” but I thought that we’d all refer to it by the flower name, so it’s both.
November 2009 – 22″x30″ – Watercolor on paper
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