Flame Azaleas on Roan Mountain

Description

CREATED 2022

Inspired by Flame azaleas that are found in the Spring on Roan Mountain in North Carolina. People come from all over to see this vista. 

Flame azaleas symbolize renewal and new beginnings because of their flower buds that resemble candle flames. They depend on butterflies for pollination; an example of the interdependence of all things.

Flowers symbolize love and life’s natural cycle of reproduction, death, and rebirth. Observe the progression of the life of flowers, from vegetative state, to unfolding beauty (youth), to reproduction (pollination and seed production), and then to falling petals (age), and death. This observation may inspire us to understand our dormant consciousness, our purpose in procreation, embrace change and new opportunities, and importantly, accept our impermanence. 

In Buddhism, flowers can represent the values of the spiritual path: acceptance, compassion, and mindfulness.

In this painting, if you look closely, you will find many small happy figures dancing and playing in the leaves and flowers, symbolizing the joy, mirth, and active awareness of life in nature. Look for these figures from the top left of the flowers then dancing down the right side of them. And a few in between. Such joy to sit in this place.