My brother was visiting, and I asked him if he wanted a picture for his new apartment. He looked around at my paintings, and in disappointment said… “I am not a big fan of flowers. ” ( How can ANYONE be not a fan of flowers? Really!)
What an eye opener. I never thought of myself as only a painter of flowers. But looking around my studio, he was right! 90% of the paintings are flowers. There was one abstract wild one, with plenty of color and movement but no form that I had done in a total fit of anger, (hidden behind some flower paintings) and he took that one.
So I started thinking about why I paint flowers….. well first because I LOVE THEM! But in particular, I love the shapes, and the colors, and color combinations… and how they speak to me. I kid you not, when I walk by a beautiful bouquet sitting on the table it will start calling my name, so I have to stop and look at it. It says “paint me before it is too late !!!”. I even like them when they are dying, and drying up in the vase. The colors get richer and darker, more intense. 
Here is a watercolor of just one of the roses, trying just to catch shapes and colors.
Here is the same rose but done in oil paint.
I am not going to stop painting flowers but I am trying to paint more of other things to. I have done a lot of barns lately……