Friday, June 27, 2008


Peony and Hammer

Oil on board, 6" x 6"
$125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US.
SOLD

First, there was Guns N' Roses. Now, Hammers N' Peonies! (Okay, so maybe my rock group's name needs a little tweaking...what do you want from me?)

Awhile back I did a couple of dailies of an onion and a ball of string that happened to randomly get plunked down side by side. There was something I liked about the incongruous nature of the two together and I started thinking it might be fun to do some paintings of objects that don't necessarily "belong" with each other. Or do you think flowers and hammers are like bread and butter?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

puzzling combination here. ..Is there a message here? You like to make us think...Dixie

Anonymous said...

And as I think about it, I can smell the fragrence of that beautiful peony and the hammer reminds me that my husband is a carpenter....Dixie

martha miller said...

i think it's less guns and roses and more johnny cash...

if i were an old hammer
and you were a peony?
would you marry me anyway,
would you have my baby?

great fun! i look forward to more unlikely combos!

Jacqui Faye said...

i love the combination of textures, shapes, feelings..... beautifully done.

Sheila Vaughan said...

These kind of objects composed together give great tension to a painting and yet they also kind of look like they decided to get on for a little while as well!

PAT MEYER -- said...

The combo is interesting. I see hard and soft items together. The grey color of the hammer makes the peony show up strongly. Great Job.

Roxanne Steed said...

whew, I thought it was another one of those "garden club" things I never got straight from the 'older gals' who know everything...something about crushing the woody ends so it takes up more water?? Beats me, I just wanted to paint what they grew! I just love these 2 together - intriguing and (yeah, a bit mysterious!). COOL!

Frank Gardner said...

Nice juxtaposition Don. Like the hard and soft.

Don Gray said...

Hi Dixie. I think our brains struggle to make sense or find connections between strange combinations, and that in itself is something I enjoy exploring.

Martha, you're a lyricist on top of your other talents. :) Thanks.

Thank you Jacqui, it's great to hear from you. I enjoy your paintings.

One gets the feeling it's a relationship likely to end in disappointment, don't you think, Sheila?

Thanks a lot, Pat.

Roxanne, you didn't know about tenderizing flower stems with a hammer? What kind of gardener are you? :) Thanks for the kind words and the laugh.

Thanks, Frank. I thought an alternate title for this piece might be "Forms of Persuasion."

Anonymous said...

More Peter, Paul and Mary than rock band.

This is a very intriguing series! Excellent juxtaposition.

Don Gray said...

I see what you're getting at there, Silvina. In fact, I can hear the tune:

"If I had a hammer,
I'd hammer on peonies..."

Thanks for the encouraging words.