June & July's Downtown Featured Member Artist - Monet Cruz

Image
Over 3.5 billion years ago the fossil record shows the first life forms on earth emerged, 500 million years ago the first animals explored land, and 465 million years ago plants made their way onto land.  Amazingly, flowers made their first appearance on earth a mere 130 million years ago, over a hundred million years after the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. Imagine the first vibrant burst of color and fragrance in every landscape and how this modified leaf evolved into one of the most enchanting natural wonders.  Life as we know it could not have evolved without the flower, a delicate representation of the beautiful and transient nature of all life.  When I look at a flower I see a fragile impermanence, which I have explored through this series with oil, pastel, and gouache.