A few years ago, I came across an article about tulipimania , the 17th-century Dutch rage for exotic and hugely expensive tulip bulbs. The phenomenon is now billed as one of the first economic bubbles since fortunes were lost when the inflated tulip market collapsed. What's more, the intriguing tulips of old Dutch paintings owed their stripes (called "flames") to a virus -- so they turned out to be a botanical bust, as well. The flames in today's versions have been hybridized (no virus), and once I understood that the now so-called "Rembrandt Tulips" are easily and inexpensively available, I had to have some and I had to paint them!
Serendipitously, I found them in my favorite mail-order garden catalog, and while the bulbs wintered in our garden, I had a chance to consider what I'd do with those stripes in the spring. (You know my methods, Watson. If one patterned object is good, two or more must be better...) Some months later, the tulips, a Gala apple, and some striped fabric converged in "Rembrandt Stripes" (copyright 2008).
This year, there's been a further convergence. The Rembrandts again bloomed in our yard, my series of "Plate" paintings was on my mind, and meanwhile, I'd discovered the most marvelous book and author/art historian:
The time was right to haul out that striped fabric and do something more with the Rembrandt tulips and a golden-yellow plate. I adjusted my original set-up, changing the plate's placement vertically (more fabric at the bottom) and reversing the colours of the fabric's stripes. Here's the outcome: "Yellow Plate Special" (copyright 2011)-- you can watch it materialize here.
I see it as the middle portion of a triptych, with "Blue Plate Special" to its left, and "Orange Plate Special" to its right. And for now, I'm putting the "Plate" series to rest.
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