Under the Lilacs

Louisa May Alcott wrote a book entitled Under the Lilacs—which I read as a child, though I remember not one detail at the moment.

I just looked it up on line to see if the story might come back to me: First published in 1878, the children's novel tells the story of two girls, Bab and Betty Moss, Miss Celia, a circus runaway, Ben Brown, and his dog Sancho.

Bab and Betty? Circus runaway? Sancho? Nope, not ringing one single bell.

Nonetheless, I'm appropriating the title for my current series of four paintings. I love lilacs, and I mourn the loss of the two very old bushes that were still alive when we bought our home nearly 40 years ago but are now gone.

Once I cut UPDH into quarters, I found and developed the heart of each individual piece a little further, and now I have a series.

Under the Lilacs

Announcing: Lilacs!
6.75x5.25", acrylic, charcoal, and oil and wax pastel on watercolor paper
abstract
2016
$140 for series

Sweet Syringa
6.75x5.25", acrylic, charcoal, oil and wax pastel on watercolor paper
abstract
2016
$140 for series

Lilac Perfume
6.75x5.25", acrylic, charcoal, oil and wax pastel on watercolor paper
abstract
2016
$140 for series

Syringa Reticulata
6.75x5.25", acrylic, charcoal, oil and wax pastel on watercolor paper
abstract
2016
$140 for series

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For those of you with short term memory lapses, here's the first draft of the original painting: