Piranha Plant, original upcycled vintage painting

“Floral with Piranha Plant”

I feel super old when I tell my kids about my childhood in the 1980’s! I reminisce that when we got our first console we had only ONE game.  So many hours were spent with my brothers and sister (taking turns on the one controller) to play that one game. And, oh, the anxiety and stress when your turn ended too quickly when your character was gobbled up by a carnivorous plant! 

Now thirty years later, video games are far more advanced (and scary!) but the sound of a synthesizer can still churn up those childhood memories of that very first game. 

This alteration is a nod at the piranha plant, whose cheerful smile and sharp teeth traumatized me so much as a kid. I still half expect one to pop up in unexpected places to chomp me, so it was the obvious choice to add to the empty flower pot in this vintage painting.

The original vintage painting signed A.Beck was an unusual surface to others I’ve worked on before… it looks like the artist used the paint itself to adhere a porous mesh onto a wood board. It is very strange! The thickly applied paint make a fantastic texture, lots of cracking in the old surface. The frame is very heavy and rough around the edges too, which I’ve left all as is because I think it adds to the rustic feel of the whole piece. 

mixed media on vintage painting
16x20 inch painting on board,
in 23x26.5 inch vintage frame

Note regarding colour : This painting a good example of how light affects how the colour is perceived. In the photos it catches the uneven surface of the painting, creating more whites and shadows. I suggest watching the reel of this being painted to get a more accurate view of the colours of this piece. The last photo is a scan of the original where the colour is much more flat lighting. I think this is part of the charm of an original painting, that it looks different as the light changes.