I know many of you have seen this post already when I posted it on Facebook a week ago, but I decided it should live on my website as well. It feels appropriate to make this monumental painting the first post on my new blog.

Four-panel acrylic painting of large, hyperrealistic dahlia petals in soft pinks, creams, and deep burgundy tones. The petals overlap across all canvases, creating one continuous floral composition against a dark, textured background.

The Basics:

Total dimensions: 78" x 40"

Made of 4 canvases

Acrylic paint

The Story:

I started this piece back in 2023. I spent well over a hundred hours working on just the under painting and background. At the time I was working full time, and the amount of effort needed for this painting became something I didn't have in me, so it got sidelined.

Cut to now.. and I knew this one needed to be in my upcoming show at D2 Gallery. But resuming it meant not only picking up the painting again.. but picking up all the feelings I tried to leave with it there too.

I was in a very high functioning depression when I started this piece. I was working in an environment where I loved the actual work and my friendships with coworkers, but the culture of where we worked was soul crushing. Being around people who try to make you feel little.. eventually makes you feel little. This painting was my escape, until I no longer needed one.

I left that job and feel so so fortunate to have found the one I have now that makes me feel valued. It took awhile for me to find confidence again, and you can pretty much pinpoint the timeline of it if you go back over what I've been able to create over the last 2 years.

The Deeper Meaning:

Now that my head is above the clouds, there are so many obvious metaphors I can see in this piece:

It's broken but it's beautiful.
It's a pleasing palette, but the overall "beauty" comes from the highlights. Few areas are actually those soft pinks, yellows, and pastels. The majority of the painting comes from several variations of muddy browns and questionable purples. Those highlights though, have a huge affect on the overall impression of the painting. Drawing any parallels with this one?
The shadows verge on black. But we need that darkness to see the light. All credit to Bob Ross for that one.
And of course, the composition. The turning of the head. The coming up for air. The "get. me. out. of. here."

These are all things I didn't put conscious effort into while I started it. I just did what felt right. As you can imagine, there were some BIG feels when it was done. If you follow me on Instagram, thanks for bearing with me through the tears as I showed this one off.

The Name:

It feels fitting to name this one accordingly.

"Up, Up, and Away"

Opening Night:

Please come see it December 5th at my opening show at D2 Gallery from 5 to 8 pm. And a huge thank you to Dean Davis for his expertise photographing this beast.