Thirty one paintings created in the month of May 2022. The sunflower is the national flower in Ukraine. During the week of Mother's day, when the war in Ukraine intensified, I turned to painting a sunflower a day with the intention of sending all proceed from sales to an effort to support Ukrainian mothers. This was my of acting on the desire we all have to "do something" when we witness atrocities from afar. The paintings will be exhibited as an installation in July and then dispersed to thirty one generous donors. Thank you.
The sunflower is also a theme that appears in modern european and american painting, most notably in the work of Gerogia O'keefe and Vincent Van Gogh. While working on the series I revisted those paitings and explored their stories. Both O'Keefe and Van Gogh painted sunflowers as an at of gratitude: Van Gogh for the companionship of his friend Gaugain, and O'Keefe for the friendship of Margaret Johnson.
I am grateful for my safety. for my freedoms and for the courage of the Ukrainian people, who are showing all of us the power of community and resolve when paired with the intention of taking care of one another. Details HERE: https://www.monicacarrollartstudio.com/sunflowers-for-ukraine
I often work through ideas for larger paintings by creating series of 12 x 12 - small works. And I am sometime surprised to find these stand on their own as finished works. Here is a sampling.
