Artist’s talk: Joan Mitchell, Vincent Van Gogh and Sunflowers 1V

Discover the inspiration and symbolism behind Cassandra’s painting Sunflowers 1V, inspired by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his legacy.

Hi, I’m Cassandra, The Joyful Artist. I hope you enjoy this vlog, where I share the inspiration behind my painting Sunflowers 1V.

The painting was inspired by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his love for his wife and children. Navalny stood for hope, and after his death, people said the sun had gone out. I thought of sunflowers as symbolizing his life and legacy continuing on.

As I painted, I thought about Navalny being like the sun, his wife carrying on his message, and their children representing future generations. I included some blue to represent sadness and tears—but also the vision of a brighter future. As Leonardo da Vinci once wrote, “One’s thoughts turn towards Hope.”

I mixed my own colors, like a maroon made from magenta and black. I learned from Joan Mitchell to use complementary colors opposite on the color wheel. At first, my painting was quite flat, but doing an underpainting allowed more layers to be built up.

I took the courage to make the colors richer, mixing orange with yellow to take the brightness down. Highlights of yellow represent keeping the soul in light.

The sunflowers in my studio are starting to decay, but their colors are beautiful as they return to the cycle of life. Painting this helped me nurture myself. I’m writing a new book about my floral paintings called “Flowers from My Heart.”

Please check out my blog post about this painting, where I discuss other artists who inspired the painting, including Vincent van Gogh and Joan Mitchell.

I’m also leading a writing retreat coming up. Perhaps you may love to write a book about what inspires you, a memoir or something else. The possibilities are endless.

For details and to book:

I hope you found this talk inspiring and will like and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Posted in: Blog