18 x 24 x .75" Original oil painting on wood panel box. 
 
This painting is part of my deconstructed realism series. I've been interested in taking things apart and loosening them up lately. Changing shapes, pushing boundaries, stripes of cooler colors next to warmer just to see what happens. 
 
In this one I took some photos of this stalk of a sea grape plant and it's cool shadow shapes outside of a gallery here in Sarasota, then cut through it with geometric shapes. I like changing temperature, size and color values in different areas, it feels almost like things are shifing in time and space to me. It definitely makes it more fun to paint.
 
The avocado green steam iron was my mom's in the 70s, I don't know why it fit in here but it kept popping into my head like a demon I had to exorcise. Looking at it afterwards I think it was the dangerous quality of the iron, I was always told to stay away or i could hurt myself, but I think also it was as much about painting that cord than anything else. That was fun! 
 
The cord plays with the shapes of the plant bringing us from something full of life, looking like a human spineal column basking in the heat of the sun, to something kitchy and vaguely dangerous. I like that juxtaposition. And there's something about the tension in the iron butting up against the edge of the painting that I liked. But really, I think sometimes paintings just need an iron and it doesn't matter why.