Holey petal of Ixora

Thru 'n Thru
Oil on stretched canvas
40 x 50 cm

Close-up of a small cluster of Ixora, a year-round flowering shrub that's a common sight in tropical Asia. It's sometimes called West Indian jasmine, among many other names.

Blue Swing & Fishies Under Star palm

Stars Below
Oil on stretched canvas
61 x 75 cm /  24" x 29"
Currently unavailable

What drew me..... The beauty of the star palm--whether you're looking at it from above, or from that garden swing below, its fronds silhouetted against the sky.
 

Painted out..... My cat, basking in the sun on the tabletop, so he wouldn't steal whatever little attention the fishies were getting.

Oh...I liked throwing balls of paper on him. He'd look everywhere but UP :>D

Fluorescence (Heliconia)

Oil on stretched canvas
71 x 56 cm / 28 x 22 inches.
Currently Unavailable

There are more than 100 types of Heliconia. Some look like 'birds of paradise', others resemble lobster claws, etc, and hence their names. I prefer those with strong forms over the light and 'flighty' ones.

Butterfly or blue pea flower (Bunga telang)

Biru Bunga Telang
Oil on stretched canvases
72 x 92 cm / 28 x 36 inches
Triptych
Currently Unavailable.

Native to tropical equatorial Asia, this climber has an interesting botanical name: Clitoria ternatea. The flowers, shorter than a thumb, were commonly used  to colour food such as glutinous rice deserts. My grandmother did this often, sending us to pluck the flowers from neighbouring fences.

Triptych with deep profile.

In View (Pink carnation)

Oil on stretched canvas
50 x 40 cm / 20 x 16 inches

I do get flowers from my sweet family occasionally => and this time I scrutinised the insides; great views!

Red Delicious

Oil on canvas
6 x 8 inches (15 x 20 cm)

Old Beloved Brass

Oil on canvas
Reserved

I'm a sucker for lost-and-found objects. But these aren't mine, they belong to Mr Wee @Waterloo St. I couldn't have asked for a more interesting composition.

Manuka

Commissioned work

A pear that stands

 

A Great Pair

Oil on canvas

8 x 8 inches (20 x 20 cm)

VIRGIL: "To start with, a pear has an unusual shape. It's round and fat on the bottom, but tapered on top... A pear has no buttocks. Its bottom is round."

BEATRICE: "So how does it stay up?"

VIRGIL: "It doesn't. A pear either dangles from a tree or lies on its side... 

The crunchiness of a pear is far more appealing. It is giving and fragile. To eat a pear is akin to...kissing."

VIRGIL: "Oh, my. It sounds so good."

-- Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel.

Fragrance (frangippani)

Oil on 2 square of gallery-wrapped canvas.

 

 In Asian cultures, the Frangipani tree is associated with mysticism. The tree is said to provide refuge to spirits and the flower is commonly used in Hindu religious ceremonies. 

Polynesian women wear the flowers to express their relationship status -- over the right ear if they are single and over the left if they are 'taken' or in a committed relationship.

The tree thrives even in hard, inhospitable earth. Its gnarled, leafless stem belies its ability to soon become lush and sprouting fragrant blooms. Hence the Frangipani is also symbolic of rebirth and regeneration.