If Blue Leschenaultia is known as ‘The Floor Of the Sky’ perhaps Parakeelya should be known as ‘The Floor Of The Sunset’ but for me it is the end of my WA Rainbow:

WA Rainbow – Violet (Parakeelya)

Parakeelya is a low growing Australian native with purplish flowers about 2cm wide.  Its name is Aboriginal but its origin and meaning are unknown.

All parts are edible but, as food this annual is apparently more palatable to stock than humans and can provide forage after soil moisture has dried up.

My painting was inspired by seeing a carpet of these flowers on a beautiful, sunny, Spring morning in the Julimar State Forest north east of Perth in WA.  The original is 9cm square and worked with Prismacolor pencils on paper.

I find it mind-bending to maintain concentration to get the details of interlaced things like the flower stems looking realistically tangled and wonder if there’s a special technique that would help!  I also wonder if I could ‘loosen up’!

I’d like to make another rainbow one day, meanwhile I’ll leave you with some thoughts about rainbows.

The lyrics of ‘The End of The Rainbow’ by Richard Thompson, sung here by Elvis Costello, represent a perspective I cannot share else I’d have no raison d’etre.  It is a very sad and depressing song.  These are the words of its chorus:

Life seems so rosy in the cradle,
But I’ll be a friend I’ll tell you what’s in store
There’s nothing at the end of the rainbow.
There’s nothing to grow up for anymore.

How much better to believe that the rainbow is enough in itself.

🙂
Helen