Cover Series: Dahlia

Cover Series: Dahlia, 2010. 4" x 6". dahlia, canvas paper, acrylic on cardboard.

The cover series comes from rituals I had a child. Bed time for me as a kid was stressful on my overactive mind and involved a mantra that I would repeat each night. Sometimes the recitals changed, but the general theme remained the same. So to deal with being so scared of the dark I would say things like, "Nothing bad will happen to me", "Mom and Dad are right outside", "The faster I get to sleep the faster I'll wake up". Before I got into bed I had to remove all the evil action figures and toys from the room and place them in the hall. That meant Skeletor, the Rancor monster, Cobra Commander et al were relegated to outside.

The ritual could end once I was under the safety of the sheets. The cover series stems from the removal of fear after I got into bed. I felt that nothing bad could reach me. Blanketing the flowers in this way keep them from harm, keep them from death. It's a way for me to provide shelter for something the way I felt the act saved me as a child. Though the object may be hidden by paint, it has something the others will never have; immortality. Like a reverse fossil the outline of the object remains. There is also irony in the fact that it is already dead.

If I am ever fortunate to have my own studio I have bigger plans for the cover series.