One of the reasons I love working on these paintings is the concurrent daydreaming. My mind seems to wander to wonderful places. The choice of a peach colored hibiscus for a couple who were going to be celebrating a special anniversary in Hawaii, was sentimental for me, because we had a number of these in our own backyard. Before the days of the internet, Gary, had stacks of catalogs, and used to mail order for unusual plants. He had one hibiscus that was as big as a dinner plate. These blossoms didn't last very long and couldn't be tucked over your ear, but WOW! And the cool thing is the plant would die back down to nothing in the winter. All that was left was bare dried up stems. Then every summer up it came, with the huge blossoms!
I couldn't resist including a couple of examples from his garden...
I couldn't resist including a couple of examples from his garden...