FLOWERS AND WEEDS (1997) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Canvas - 36" X 48"
When my son Adrian was 3 or 4 years old, we used to go to an abandoned construction site where there were huge slabs of concrete embedded with iron reinforcing rods. When we struck the rebar with a stone or another piece of metal they would ring like bells. It was interesting to hear such beautiful tones coming from such ugliness and he really enjoyed it.
We always seemed to be there late in the day, when the sun’s rays were low and slanting, and I liked the way the shadows from the rebar would stretch across the concrete forms.
I didn’t get to do the painting until many years later and the wooden door and grass and flowers are from my own imagination. Adrian is contemplating pulling a weed out of the small eden in front of him. Should he leave it be or should he try to “improve” on nature?
Source: michaelwhelan.com
