The process for this piece started with with inspiration from songs about love, loss and renewal: building a composition with circles, coils, DNA strands, and the colour red for seeds of new life. I am attracted to life’s geometry, unfurling fronds, hidden order in disorder, and the stubborn persistence of nature.
This was a cornerstone portfolio piece that I chose not to offer for sale because it connects with ideas still developing for new work. However, a few single archival prints or a very small print edition could be made available on request.
The song played on repeat while working on parts of this painting was sung by Katie Melua but written by Mitchell Parish and Peter de Rose.
"When the deep purple falls,
Over sleepy garden walls,
And the stars begin to flicker in the sky,
Through the mist of a memory,
You wander back to me,
Breathing my name with a sigh.
In the still of the night,
Once again I hold you tight,
Though you're gone, your love lives on
When moonlight beams.
And as long as my heart will beat,
Lover, we'll always meet,
Here in my deep purple dreams."
The painting is not a literal interpretation of the words of the song, but something in the music connected with thoughts about healing, rebuilding, inheritance, and legacy.
Contact Susan Burnham Neilson for information about available paintings, prints, commissions, studio visits, and workshops.
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