Hollyhockin' with Venus

This was inspired by a small copy of the Venus Di Milo that I have, and dried Hollyhock branches--leftover vestiges of a monolithic hollyhock that had been growing in my back patio all spring and summer--and then began to renew and grow all over again at the end of summer into the fall, until the first really hard frost put an end to it's long glorious life. It towered over me, as at one point it was probably 8-9 ft tall.
I was kind of obsessed with it. Well...ok. I'm still obsessed with it.
Left behind from it's former glory were these equally cool dried/dead branches that carried curling orbs in different stages of unfurling, filled with seeds.
In some ways the dead branches are really as beautiful in this state as they were in life, but in a totally different way.
Also how interesting that the dead branches support these dried out pods...that carry all these seeds...and that within those seeds on that dead branch are all juicy stuff needed to create new life.
So inspired by the the crustiness of the branches and the smooth qualities of the venus, I put them together and painted this.
I suspect that I will revisit these subjects again, as this was a quick study.