Flowers can be used as metaphors and may represent different things at different times in different cultures.  A history of flower painting can reveal many deceptions over time.  

Roses, more than any other flower, have always been used by
poets and artists to enhance the meaning of their work; to
recollect the pleasures of a garden or evoke an awareness of the
brevity of life.

I chose to work from flowers that were gifts presented to me by loved ones. I observed how the blooms changed their appearance over time. Their changes prompted me to consider transience and to celebrate the beauty of the ephemeral. As Gaston Bachelard writes: “Perhaps it is better to live in a state of impermanence than one of finality”.