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Mel Watkin: Mighty Chrysanthemum Tree

Mel Watkin's avatar Mel Watkin Two-Dimensional

GIVING FLOWERS POWER. A number of environmental hazards threaten the wide variety of trees and flowers surrounding my old farmhouse in rural Southern Illinois. In their defense my recent large-scale drawings are meant to be seductive, but also a bit menacing, because as recent events show, nature is beautiful, but it can also be deadly. Mighty Chrysanthemum Tree imagines a tree-sized handful of Chrysanthemums swaying ominously overhead. Flowers also played an important role historically in my small agricultural town of Cobden. It was once a flower-growing center. Fresh cut flowers travelled up to Chicago daily by train. Sadly, with overnight global commerce, flowers are no longer a viable crop for Cobden, but they still come up "volunteer" by the 100s in abandoned fields throughout town.

Entry Details
  • Art form: 2-D
  • Depth: n/a
  • Medium: Pencil, colored pencil and acrylic on paper painted to look like graph paper
  • Width: 38 inches
  • Year created: 2017
  • Height: 26.5 feet