Flowers in Autumn for my mother's present

A month before my ma’s birthday, I decided to try painting for her as I’d always promised to, for her to hang on her once bare walls. Because I had procrastinated for so long, wall hangings bought from the Philippines had instead occupied the space.

I had found that there was a huge jump from drawing to painting. One would assume that painting would come easy to a drawer. After all, an artist is an artist, right? Well, that was so not so for me. I found the slicker and softer application of paint so foreign compared to the hardness of lead on paper. It was surreal yet very therapeutic at the same time.

My mum is one those who’d decorate their home with fake flowers so I thought it would only be fitting to have this as my painting subject. Not the plastic, but flowers. That way, may her birthday memories last long after all the birthday cake had been polished off.

As for the painting’s title, I had gone with “Flowers in Autumn”. I did give my partner, David Balmain, the chance to take the naming rights. The best he could do at the time was “Flowers and Cream” which was close to my suggestion so I went with my original title. It’s straight forward. Birthday flowers painted for my mother during chilly Canberra’s Autumn season.

Update: She loved “Flowers in Autumn”