There is no such thing as death,
                                                 In nature, nothing dies:
                                                 From each sad moment of decay
                                                 Some forms of life arise.

                                                                            Charles MacKay
 
          Once again this poor pot sat in the corner of my studio for weeks.  Something was wrong (well, actually, more than one thing but more about that later.)  The idea was to depict the last bit of a large flower arrangement left to die in a huge pot.  I was so intent on using some radiant white that would stand out against the darker edge of the pot that I kept going over and over the flowers working on getting a dynamic contrast.  Of course, dying flowers are not vibrant ~ not vivid ~ not bursting with energy.  They are limp, sad, and most of all, dreary.  I have toned these down quite a bit but they still need more work.  How does one paint sadness and decay???  And once that distressing feeling is visible in the flowers how will they still maintain their proper place as the focal point?  Should have thought this through way before I put the first dab of paint on this canvas.  Composition, color mixing, technique, on and on ~ so much to learn!