A Plant's Eye View of the World: Part 6

This is the last of the six paintings in my "Evil Greens" series "When Plants Get Mad: Kamikaze Tomatoes".

In the case of tomatoes in the greenhouse, I suspect they know they are goners and so have nothing to lose.

But dive bombing the eater, rather than be eaten - well, what a way to go!

I used some of my favorite colors in this painting, notably the Gamblin color  'Radiant Blue', which I used for the sky.

(At one point, stores in the city where I live said they would no longer be carrying Gamblin colors. Catastrophe!  So I stocked up madly.

But, even in the US, they were hard to find at retail. Luckily, one of the suppliers I use is now stocking Gamblin product again. I just treated myself to a tube of Radiant Yellow but I haven't used it yet.)

Back to the painting: As with the others in the series, this one looks at the issue of our eating habits and assumptions. Vegetarians really have nothing over the rest of us omnivores, because, plants have to be killed for us to eat vegetables.

The only difference is in the way these food are a renewable resource. Keep the roots and you can grow again. That suggests eating potatoes and carrots isn't very pure...

Also, let's not forget that plants themselves  - some of them - are carnivorous: In total, there are some 670 species across the world. Butterflies, frogs and flies are just some of the food these plants consume.

Something to think about, next time you are on your way to the grocery store, or sitting down to eat in a restaurant...

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

A Plant's Eye View of the World, Part 5

It's been quite a while since I posted one of the canvases from my series "Evil Greens: When Plants Get Mad...".

So, I'm back with Number 5 in the series. (All paintings in this series are the same size, 2 foot wide by 3 foot high)

In this one, I move away from plant life that is truly "green" and focus on a food plant, namely, wheat.


For those of you who haven't viewed the first four paintings in the series, one of the premises - in a world where some people assume there's a virtue in eating a non-animal product diet - is that plant life is compliant with this.

My view is: Plants are no less alive than animals and, in some cases, the whole plant is finished off to feed the hungry. (Interesting side note: All of human agriculture, for the last 10,000 years, has been based nearly 100% on annuals, not perennials. This is where the hideous costs of agriculture originate. There's a move afoot to develop perennial forms of grain and oilseed crops, to reduce the costs.)

I'm sure harvesting methods and equipment have improved in recent years, but my references to agriculture come from my childhood, when I lived far nearer to farmer's fields than I do today, so I'm showing an old fashioned combine-harvester in the background. It may not apply now but, there was a time, if the wheat was wet, it couldn't be harvested. Then again, it may still be true...

In this panel, the wheat is mad - and fighting back! It is making itself wet, in an act of defiance. The farmer is horrified.

The eagle-eyed among you will also notice other details... such as the little copses of trees on the horizon or the tails of little furry creatures scurrying out of the way. Plus, of course, the droplets of water.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

A Plant's Eye View of The World, Part 4.

When I painted Number 4 in my series, "Evil Greens: When Plants Get Mad!", I was thinking about the segment of the population that  - maybe - takes the purity of what they eat just a tad too seriously.

I also had in mind a segment of the population that I've heard men refer to as "The Birkenstock Brigade" - hey, I'm just repeating what others have said!

In this painting - The Sprouts Strike Back! - someone is about to start cutting her sprouts to make bread  - and the sprouts have decided they've had enough! They don't want to be cut!

I'll leave it to your imagination what the outcome of this event will be...

As with all 6 panels in this series, the painting is 24" x 36".

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

A Plant's Eye View of The World; Part 3

Hmmm... What would the world really be like if all plant forms could fight back...?

When I look at this painting, I sometimes think of that song "He's a Lumberjack and he's - not-so - OK..."

Evil Greens: When Plants Get Mad - Treacherous Trees

This is the third in my series of oil paintings, Evil Greens, and this one is titled "Treacherous Trees".

In it, I show the trees subtly fighting back against two lumberjacks, one by gently lifting its root to trip one of the guys and the other by lowering a branch to swat the second lumberjack.

Otherwise, the setting is perfectly sylvan and benign!

My Evil Greens series is done on canvases of roughly 2ft by 2.5ft. I originally conceived them to hang somewhere like a dining room, as they make great conversation pieces.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

A Plant's Eye View of the World; Part 2

In the first of my postings about my Evil Greens series of paintings, I illustrated how dandelions may feel about being cut down so callously.

Now, it's the turn of the rose bushes to share their thoughts.

The second in my series "Evil Greens: When Plants Get Mad -Vicious Roses" continues my exploration of alternative views, showing what happens when a zealous gardener goes out to prune the rose bushes. (Prune? What makes you think that doesn't hurt?)

In this case, the bushes fight back, terrorizing the gardener!

Some of the details in this painting can only be seen 'up close and personal', the scratches and blood trickling down various parts of our lady gardener for one.

Just a little something to think about, next time you are heading to the great outdoors...

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

A Plant's Eye View of the World; Part 1

One of the hallmarks of my art is presenting what might be called "alternative views". That is, the world as seen by species other than human.

I've often thought, with all the hue and cry about animal welfare plus the belief, by some, that we should stop eating meat and stick to vegetables, that the viewpoint of plants is not really being considered.

After all, plants are alive too! They are able to respond to light and sense what's going on in their environment.

It was in this vein that I painted a series of six canvases with the overall title of:

Evil Greens: When Plants Get Mad.

The first in the series is subtitled: "Defiant Dandelions".

In this work, I take the view that, maybe, dandelions don't like being cut when the lawn is mown. Maybe, just maybe, they can decide to take a stand for themselves...  As a result, the homeowner is in for a shock, thrown literally on his ass!

In future blog posts, I'll add the other five paintings in the series.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer