Last November our family spent Thanksgiving on Maui, where we helped celebrate the wedding of a young couple.  Orchids were everywhere during the wedding;  in the bouquets, on the tables, everywhere I looked.  Though I previously thought them a lovely flower, I did not have much of an connected relationship to them, which I need to paint a subject.  Due to their abundance, exotic shapes and diverse color,  they grabbed my attention and I felt compelled to start using them as a subject matter for a few paintings.  Pictured here is a small 12" x 12" painting.

Did you know:  Orchids belong to the most diverse family of plants known to man. There are over 880 genera, 28,000 species and well over 300,000 registered cultivars currently documented.  Orchids are the most rapidly (genetically) changing group of plants on earth and more new species have been discovered over the last few thousand years than any other plant group known.  Orchids are also one of the most adaptable plant groups on earth.  Some Australian orchids grow entirely underground, and many tropical jungle orchids grow in the upper branches of trees. Tundra, rainforest, mountain, grassy plain, desert and swamp environments contain numerous orchid species.

This is definitely a subject matter to be pursued.