acrylic on stretched canvas 12 x 16"

The painting is on a stretched canvas, painted round the sides, with a string on the back, so it is ready to hang as it is, or can be framed if you prefer.

I included dark coloured species including Black Bat flower, Black Parrot tulips, Chocolate Cosmos, Black Calla lily, Black Baccara rose and Black iris. Painted in a gothic vase with dramatic lighting.

I've always admired these flowers which look almost black, when I've occasionally seen them, and wanted to paint several of them in one picture. The species I have chosen probably wouldn't bloom at the same time and be seen together but Dutch flower artists from the 17th century didn't worry about that. One example is Rachel Ruysch. As her father was a botanist, she was able to use his collection of specimens as a reference for her art.

I have tried to copy some of the characteristics of the old Dutch flower paintings, although theirs had dark backgrounds and brightly lit flowers whereas I have painted dark flowers on a dark background with a bright light shining on them.

Dutch flower paintings often included insects, which had symbolic meanings so I also put some in my painting - a moth and a grasshopper. Moths symbolised transformation and mortality. Grasshoppers symbolised carelessness, and frivolity. They can be seen as creatures that live in the moment showing the fleeting pleasures of life.

I also included some dying withering flowers to further symbolise the transient nature of life.