Sunflowers on a Garden Bench

I have always avoided painting sunflowers – for two reasons; one, is that historically they have already been painted beautifully by several artists I admire, the other is that I have never really engaged with them as flowers. I was given these, and my instinct was to put them outside in full sun. They amazed me, they seemed to absorb and also reflect it. They have such a strong presence, thick hairy stems, fragile petals, necks that move towards the light, and mysterious geometric seedy centres. i hope the painting conveys the awakening of my fascination for them, my preoccupation with my palette- trying to catch the intensity of the yellow, dulling everything else while playing with the complementary colours to maximise the drama – seizing on the presence of the purple verbena behind, and the bleached wood of the bench.