This tulip has already fallen over, but it is far from gone. Its color is still vibrant, its petals still hold their shape, and it still has plenty of life left in it.
What interests me is how often we assume visible change means something is nearing its end. With both flowers and people, that is not always true. Sometimes, the first signs of aging, change, or struggle become visible long before someone or something is actually near the end. We tend to see those changes and make assumptions about how much has been lost, but there is often much more life left than we realize. This painting became a way of looking at that space between the first visible changes and the point where a flower's life has ended.
