Difficult Plants
Last year in 2020 I read the book 'Difficult Women' by Helen Lewis. I also moved to Gran Canaria.
Being a hobby gardener, I decided to take some cuttings from local plants to raise in pots on the balcony, only to discover that in order to survive on this windswept, sun-torched island of volcanic rock, each plant has become 'difficult'.
This year I read 'Difficult Women' by Roxane Gay and became convinced that to survive and thrive, being difficult is just what one has to be.
As for the plants, they are spiky with needles, sharp points or tiny hairs that get under the skin - they are all weaponised.
Even the lovely Aloe Vera boasts a ripsaw edge along each shoot. Cute, but difficult, these plants intrigue me and I have paid homage to 4 of them on small 7cm x 7cm canvases, punctured with a variety of household pins that can hurt - sewing pins, butterfly pins, panel pins and safety pins.
They are called 'Difficult Plants - Plantas difíciles' and are: Aloe vera', acrylic on canvas with panel pins; Barrel cactus, acrylic on canvas with butterfly pins; Old man, acrylic on canvas with fibre and panel pins; and Prickly pear, acrylic on canvas with dressmaking pins.
Tongue Pets
'Tongue creatures - Criaturas de lengua
Jelly Fish/Medusa', Tree Frog/Rana de Árbol’, Hedgehog/Erizo and Worm/Gusano
7cm x 7cm acrylic on canvas, first of four.
Tongues, the unruly creatures that live in our mouths, flopping, curling, a muscle with a mind of its' own. Pet or creature like.
7cm x 7cm acrylic on canvas, first of four.
Tongues, the unruly creatures that live in our mouths, flopping, curling, a muscle with a mind of its' own. Pet or creature like.
