This sunflower was created during the Lenten season of 2020 to represent hope and new life in response to a CA church seeking artist submissions before Easter.

The inspiration for the image and the color palette came from two gifts from fellow artists that are currently in my studio. As I looked through my supplies figuring out what I was going to use, I was very drawn to the purples, greens and golds. After I had cut the petals, my curiosity led me to a quick internet search for background on any spiritual symbolic meaning behind the subject and the colors. I found that faith and loyalty are attributed to sunflowers; purple wields a dual meaning for both mourning and royal realms; green is evocative of new life and hope; and finally, gold is the pinnacle of all that is holy and majestic. Whoa! That is timely and powerful.

Interspersed with my decorative papers is a variety of items collected over the years to include: an antique postcard from 1918, packaging from Greek coffee, an Italian retail store bag, an Italian bakery wrapper, Korean florist paper, a greeting card, an envelope liner, a clothing tag from Thailand, a map, a hotel key holder from the Hard Rock in Chicago as well as an entire container of seed beads.

It all comes together to tell a story of old and new, goodbyes and hellos, past and present, the mundane and the extraordinary, death and life and an irrepressible hope that emerges even from the depths of grief.

• Subject Matter: Sunflower; Green, Purple and Gold