Small floral oil painting

My latest painting is a 9 by 5 inch oil on plywood panel and will be donated to the Plantagenet Community Art Centre to be auctioned in a fundraiser for the facility.

Several local artists and community members have been invited to participate, with all works presented on a similar 9 x 5 panel. Entries will include 2D and 3D work.

The "9 by 5" has a special place in Australian art history as it was the approximate size of cigar box lids favoured as painting surfaces by some artists in the mid-late 1800s. In 1889 the "9 by 5 Impression Exhibition" was held in Melbourne and featured such luminaries as Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton.

Floral fireworks
12.5cm x 22.5cm oil on ply panel.
© Andy Dolphin

My aim here was to produce a fast, loose explosion of bold colour. I already had the image in my mind before I arranged the flowers in the set-up. Set against a dark backdrop and facing in different directions the flowers look, to me, like fireworks.

The 9x5 exhibition opens on Friday night, July 11, and runs for a week at Mitchel House in Mt Barker, WA. Purchase is by silent auction and, with opening prices starting at just $25, I imagine there will be many bargains to be had.