Wild Blue Flax flowers often grow in dense groups. This is obviously not a dense group, so you might say I’m quite contrary to the underlying tenons of the Flower Essences series. That is to imbue the photo with the distilled nature of a particular flower. But sometimes flowers, like people show a playful side you wouldn’t have initially thought in character. And this line up was not to be ignored.

A number of elements combine to create a strong sense of motion through this photo. The S curve from top right to bottom left through the flowers pays homage to long, snaking, never ending queues. While the background is lined up to show a sort of diagonal slant of deep greens fading to lighter softer grass in the same direction through the photo. The very shallow depth of field on the focal flower adds a progressive blurring affect through the other three that quickens, while the almost mirrored stem of the focal flower seems to push it up and forward. All this energy would march on unabated were there not silky blues to slow the journey. And an off center focal flower that seems to have poked itself up a little to high. With a focus buried deep at its sunny center, both our eye and the composition’s energy stops. While the star like embossing and reaching white stamens complete a face in query.

This piece will do well in nearly any room of your home. It’s colors relax, while its composition holds the subtle tension of passage, then stillness when your eyes settle. Grin at the unexpected whimsy of a single Wild Blue Flax rising above the other Queuing flowers to ask, “Are we There Yet?” I know I’m smiling, and so will you every time you pass this photo.

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