07.01
These are pretty bad photographic copies of a painting I did prior to the 2013 Australia Day Bundaberg flood. “The Sensual Life of Plants” was done to fill a gap on an under-cover pergola wall. A barbecue area. Later, it followed me to my present residence. In 2013 it copped the flood, as it was stored at floor level, stacked with a pile of other paintings.
With the massive clean-up job of my unit, at some point the painting ended up flat on the ground in my muddy driveway. This was to prevent the State Emergency Services people (SES) from sinking into the mud as they helped throw out all of my furniture, onto a pile in the street. Desperate times, so priorities change. This was survival mode.
Four months later, and the painting was still there, now fixed in place under the solidified mud. I had lost interest in its recovery, thinking it was totally ruined anyway. Life moves on. However, one of my friends (and photographic models), Debra, noticed bits of the painting, after some rain washed away some mud. She asked if she could have it.
Amazingly, the paint was still fresh, and the ply-board had no water damage at all. It was bathroom-grade ply, but I would not have thought it would survive four months under mud, and people traffic. Yes, of course, I gave her the painting!