3 Echinacea Siblings
12x36in acrylic on canvas, $400
My normal ‘walk the puppy’ shift is at noon. This past Spring I loved seeing all the flower buds popping out and opening up. By noon they were all out and greeting the sun.
I have learned to love echinaceas, they are hardy plants, the flowers last a long time, they come in many pretty colors, and they bloom late. There were 2 bushes of these yellow ones in my usual route. I enjoyed looking at them so much, I had to take pictures.
I felt like I got to know this one bush in particular and noticing how the first sprouts grew tall, they seemed to say “I am almost there!” to the others, reaching for the most light, stretching tall for the sun.
It made me think of families, particularly siblings. I tittled it ‘3 Echinecea Siblings’ as I thought about my family of origin and my family now- the birth order, the lessons learned, the different growth we have each experienced. I am the oldest of 3 and I have 3 children. So, I picked 3 flowers at slightly different heights or stages in honor of that.
The background while it is acrylic, I treated it like watercolor, which you can do by adding lots more water. It is so satisfying to lift, add, spray, and try wet on wet running until the very last minute when it dries and you can’t move anything anymore.
The background is very loose with the right top area with lots of yellow, to represent the sun. The painting contrast is in the color (yellows vs. blues) and the loose background vs. the detailed shading of the flowers. The centers are different colors to emphasize how each is it’s own flower (blue, green, and yellow) and also make a fantastic bush.
3 Echinacea Siblings celebrates difference and sameness, honors different stages of nature and life, and makes me think of those further along in their journey teaching a way to the others.
What can you thank a younger or older sibling (figure) for today?