I’ve no idea whether Forget-me-nots are native to Australia, but this area of bush was full of them, and very nice they looked too. A real burst of spring colour.
It remains to be seen if anyone gets upset by this painting. With European naïvety I made some paintings a few years ago of great drifts of purple flowers in the bush. “That’s bloody Paterson’s Curse!” people told me. “What you want to paint that for?” Well, I liked the colour.
A little research reveals that although Paterson’s Curse is toxic to farm animals, in Southern Australia it’s known as Salvation Jane as it is often the only source of feed during dry spells (toxic food being better than no food). Paterson’s Curse also flowers early, providing both the large amount of pollen necessary to build up bee numbers (go bees!) in a short time and a high level of nectar, which provides an early flow of honey. So, as curses go, not such a scary one.
Anyway, on a completely different note, I’m off to Europe for a wee while so, um, forget me not… the blogger’s greatest fear? Discuss.
Also, to me, the angle/composition on Forget Me Nots is visceral~and the limey green and periwinkle FMN’s practically glow!
Lars, we’ll miss you, and your writings and the best paintings on any blog ever. Where are you going? Will you send paintings from there? Even if they’re miniature, and taken with your phone. You can’t just cut us off. <3 Hope your travels are great!