After years of painting flowers as a china painter and teacher in that medium, I fell in love with oil painting while studying Visual Arts at Bendigo TAFE. My particular passion is still life and one of the subjects I love to paint most is succulents due to their sculptural form. “Red Succulent” is a move away from the traditional still life in that it takes a close up look at the subject matter with the single succulent filling the whole space. I often like to paint this format although it takes away from the challenge and enjoyment of arranging a still life setup. I find the negative shapes in all work fascinating and when painting those areas of my paintings I can truly loose myself in the work.

This succulent is a tree succulent called Aeonium Arboretum which depends on sunshine to give it its normally deep burgundy purple colour. In this work I used artistic license to make it bright and eye catching. It is a very common succulent and turns green if it is grown in the shade. Originating in the Canary Islands it is extremely hardy and perfect for the Castlemaine climate.