Photinia leaf

A fallen Photinia leaf lies on mossy brickwork, intersected by a blade of grass.

The shrub Photinia is in the rose family, closely related to the apple. This leaf is probably from Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’, commonly used in suburban hedging.

I’m not sure that I care for the plastic look of the whole plant, but I liked this striking juxtaposition of old brick, furry moss, shiny red leaf and the ‘cut’ of the blade of grass. The patterns of nature are rarely random – even a chance grouping such as this has context.

While I didn’t set out to make a visual comment on the awful sterility of some abstract work, I see the finished painting has done just that. Most abstract art is exactly that – abstracted from nature and soul. Artists, rebelling against a culture that monetised their creativity, set out to make ever more abstract work as a defence. This was terrible for art because the abstract work became just as monetised, yet the work had escaped a world that desperately needed it. Perhaps the best source of commentary on modern art is Suzi Gablik.

You might also like my painting of a solitary winter leaf or these red berries.