"Orchids in the Mist"

Hi, guys.

This is the image I selected for my postcard to announce the latest events in my world of art.
The postcard will have information on the back about when and where one can check out some of my new art.
If you're on my mailing list, you'll be receiving a free (postcard-sized) copy of this piece, entitled "Orchids in the Mist." Watch your mail for it!


(If you're not on my mailing list, but would like to be, just shoot me a quick email. Go to my new website,
http://www.jeanneguerin-daley.com
and click on the "Contact Jeanne" link.
You can leave me a message asking me to add your address to my list.)

So,
about "Orchids in the Mist..."
This piece was the result of a combination of experimentation with pastels and cyanotypes ...(and of orchids too of course! I just love the look of orchids: the shape, the colors, the delicate nature of the flower. I hope to own a real orchid plant someday!)

I was able to take home some leftover cut orchids from a big party that was held at Nemacolin Resort about a year ago (long story,... ask me sometime...no, I didn't attend the party,) and I was amazed at how long the orchids lasted! As the lower flowers started to wilt, younger, new flowers blossomed at the top end of the stem.

Thanks to Bonatso's Flowers, and my husband's Valentine's Day gift to me this year, I recently had a chance to have a real orchid sprig (among other beautiful blossoms too!) to observe and study. First, I chose a cyanotype photogram that I had made last summer. In my opinion it didn't have enough ooomph to hold its own as a piece of art, but it looked like a great base for something else! So I decided to play around with pastels on top of that beautiful Prussian blue base color that cyanotypes provide.

I had a lot of fun playing with the mediums. I used the pastels to depict the shades of the orchid, but also to portray a mysterious atmosphere in the background of the flowers, an atmosphere resembling a vague, misty place, filed with questions and ambiguity. isn't that what art is about? Ambiguity, asking questions, looking for answers?

I hope I succeeded in creating a mystical place for one's eyes to wander through, to search, to enjoy.