Desire

What I was trying to do with this painting was to use rough strokes and multiple layers to create a deep texture that shows through in an almost surreal way.

After painting the background layers I sketched in the flower and the hummingbird. I looked at that sketch for a long time, nervous to get started. Just before I started painting in the flower my muse told me that it looked as if the flower was reaching for the bird. It looked as if the flower desired the bird just as much as the bird desired the flower.

At that moment I had the title of the painting, but my confidence that I could pull it off was still lacking. There were some nerve wracking sessions, especially as I started new parts of the painting, but in the end I am very happy with how it turned out. It has even become one of my favorite paintings.