Alaskan Pansies

I love pansies and believe it or not, the largest pansies I have ever seen (before moving to the PNW) were in Alaska!  These beauties were growing in a beautiful big pot along the Gastineau Channel and I stopped on my walks every day to visit them - they were like new friends. To me, pansies often take on human looks with their unique faces, and for some reason these reminded me of grumpy old men - maybe a thought inspired by the movie, but seeing them always made me smile.  The colors are so vibrant and each one is such an individual.  I couldn't wait to paint them, which is why they were done in acrylic - it's faster to work with and faster to dry.    

The blackish/green background gives the painting some drama and really sets off the flowers.   Perhaps it helps elevate their status from just a hybrid of the viola to the Victorian meaning "thinking of you" and their symbol of constancy.   Pansies were worthy of Shakespeare's pen as well, so here's to the beautiful and expressive pansy - so simple, and so wonderful.   Hope you enjoy this painting as much as I do - it's available in prints and notecards.