The paintings in my show ‘Twelve Petals’ are a group of recent paintings, mostly figurative with

a storytelling quality. The images are usually found during the process and not necessarily

referring to a specific myth or story. I use brushes, stamps, stencils and paper towels to find

beautiful and inventive surfaces and illusions. The flow of the paint uncovers the story that

needs to be told. In this way the image is intuitively discovered. I use this process to deepen into

the image and find something with ‘image-magic’ and fantasy. Some of the images have gold

leaf and sparkles which are inspired from my trips to southeast Asia and India. The paintings are

not meant to be ironic or smart, but earnest in my appreciation of the painters of the past and an

honoring of my own imagination.

• Mary Flinn