Have you ever thought about a place that is actually poetic? Like a forgotten corner of a yard where you used to count to 10 when playing hide and seek as a child – a place where metal may meet sunlight, where a neon bloom twirls against rust and ruin, where light meets darkness. I took this photo while visiting my sister in Wisconsin a few months back. It was lured by a pop of electric green against an aging shed. It wasn’t staged. It wasn’t cleaned up. It is that what makes this beautiful, to me.

In the photo – a vivid lime-colored metal flower, part whirligig, part sculpture, rises stubbornly from a twisted stem, reaching up to the Wisconsin sun. Its bright body casts a bold shadow – just as expressive as the flower itself – against the weathered, corrugated wall of a tin shed. Below it, remnants of rusted machinery lie half-buried in grass and time, like artifacts of a simpler past.

This photo isn’t just about contrast; it’s about persistence. A man-made flower, rooted not in soil but in intention, continues to dance long after the music of usefulness fades. It doesn’t need water. It doesn’t wilt. It simple is – a joyful relic in a world that rushes past. It whispers: “Look closer. Beauty doesn’t always bloom where you expect it.”

I feel like this photo belongs in an art show because of (5) reasons:

• Stillness in Storytelling: this image tells a layered story of time, nature, resilience, and man’s attempt to mimic the divine with metal petals. It’s a visual metaphor for the balance between permanence and decay and how even synthetic beauty can find harmony in a natural setting.
• Contrast and Composition: the bold lime against the rust and tan, the vertical metal siding framing the chaotic twist of wire and forgotten tools – each element plays its part in creating visual tension that invites reflection.
• A Shadow as a Second Subject: it is rare to see a shadow hold its own in a photography, but here it becomes a co-star, painting an alternate version of the flower on the wall, doubling the impact while adding mystery and depth.
• Symbolism: to another artist or viewer this piece could represent misplaced joy, endurance, a forgotten dream, or resilience. It asks: “What do we leave behind? What continues to spin after we stop?”
• Emotion in the Unexpected: many times an art show entry features grand landscapes or posed portraits, to me, this photo invites me to feel something from the quiet corners. It offers nostalgia for what once was, hope for what still spins, and reverence for the small details we often overlook.

Sometimes art isn’t about capturing perfection, but finding poetry in imperfection. “Electric Nature Against Weathered Canvas” is exactly that – a quiet rebellion against the mundane, spun in color, shadow, and rust.

Sometimes art isn’t about capturing perfection, but about finding poetry in imperfection. “Electric Nature Against Weathered Canvas” is exactly that—a quiet rebellion against the mundane, spun in color, shadow, and rust.

✨ Available for print inquiries and upcoming exhibitions.