Insight of the Windflowers

These bold and unique flowers are known as anemones. It’s a Greek word meaning ‘windflower’, or ‘daughter of the wind’. In my piece, this image reflects soul-searching, and an enlightenment of the creative heart. (A thank you to my Valentine!)

There are many other meanings attributed to these beautiful flowers through culture and history. Two of my favorites- they sprang from the tears of Aphrodite, when mixed with the blood of her love Adonis at his death. And in the Victorian language of flowers, they symbolize the anticipation of love or of love forsaken, depending on the colors.

I also thought I’d share a few pictures of my process. The rough drawing on the left was an image I created in my head, used to balance out the shapes. At first, the head was going to be a heart, though I later changed it a hidden face, as the flowers’ centers reminded me of eyes and I thought it would be interesting to blend hers in with them. (The heart idea will be a future version~) I then added other types of blooms and foliage from pictures I’ve taken over the years, to create a subtle spiral flow.

The drawing to the right is on vellum paper, allowing me to trace over my initial image and work out all the details. From there I scanned my drawing, tinted it a warm red, and printed it onto gray toned paper. After mounting it to masonite board and sealing with matte medium, I then started on the painting. (I spent a lot of fun time on the details~) *The piece is freshly painted, so I’ll be adding a final varnish to it when ready. So shipping time is estimated 2 weeks from this posting.

Medium: oil painting on toned paper on masonite. Vintage wood frame with gold trim. *The most accurate colors for this piece are reflected in the 2 cropped-in detail images of her face, as these were taken from the scan.

Size: art, 9.5 in x 12.5 in; with frame 11 in x 14 in -See pic of hand for scale.

[All copyright and reproduction rights of the image belong to Kelley Hensing, and will remain with the artist after purchase of the original artwork. Image will be used for the sale of future prints and note cards.]

$850 $850