“…recalling a busy summer in my life

when the relentless yet love-filled demands of motherhood took priority,

and the bouquet had to wait.”

*work in progress, at my dining room table, July 2025*

In July, my friend Katy gave me a gorgeous bouquet of summer flowers from her garden. I brought my paints home from my studio, hoping to paint the flowers at my dining room table while also getting a little time with my two teenagers during their summer break, even if it was just a passing “hello” as they went by me on their way to the kitchen for snacks. I was especially keen on grabbing as much time with my older kid as possible, as he was planning to leave for his freshman year of college at the end of the summer.

But each day passed without a single moment of painting. Instead, I was distracted by a variety of mundane yet urgent household and parenting tasks, situations that pulled me away from my beautiful bouquet. Each day the flowers wilted a little bit more, and as I felt guilty that I wasn’t able to prioritize them, but I always felt like I had to attend to something more important.

Finally, almost a week after putting the bouquet on the table and watching it slowly fade and wilt, I took my brushes in hand and forced myself to focus. I painted over an old painting, a portrait attempt that I had abandoned earlier in the year. When I recycle an old painting in this way, I have “nothing to lose,” and it frees me up.

*“Wilting Summer Bouquet” oil painting detail, an homage to Chagall*

In my painting you can see where I included a Chagall print of his painting “The Birthday,” which hangs on the exposed brick chimney by our dining room table.

I love Chagall so much. About ten years ago, I wrote a fun fan-fiction short story about being in love with him: Breaking Up With Chagall, which you can read if you feel curious.

*“The Birthday” oil painting by Chagall, 1915*

I painted a glimpse my younger son’s upright bass, which can be seen leaning in the corner by the window, behind the pitcher of water and the wilting flowers, hinting at how music fills the house.

*“Wilting Summer Bouquet” oil painting detail*

Over the next couple of days, I painted, although I was still constantly interrupted by various life tasks and situations. The painting began to capture the busyness and fullness of summer and the beautiful chaos of family life. As I painted, the bouquet changed and continued to wilt. The flower stems slowly bowed downwards, they hung their heavy heads, the fading petals dropped on the table, and the water transformed into that dirty yellow-green color in the oppressive summer heat.

But even so, the bouquet was still beautiful to me. Through the act of painting, I was able to appreciate the beauty of change, dissemination, aging, and the passage of time.

This painting is an act of surrender, recalling a busy summer in my life when the relentless yet love-filled demands of motherhood took priority, and the bouquet had to wait.

Generous Permission

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