Dancing with Myself: Strawberry

This is the first painting I made for spring. I was so thrilled with its energy and its will to grow that I just had to paint it.

I couldn’t contain it yet, so it runs right to the edges of the paper. That’s how it grew. It’s different from all the others in Just Like Heaven, and the name comes from the Billy Idol song.

Original 5 x 7-inch study, unframed, with no white border. Gouache, colored pencil, and Neocolor II wax pastel on Arches hot press paper. Signed on the back.

Sold flat and unmounted, with a backing board and sleeve.

Because the painting goes to the edges, plan the mounting before you hang it. It can be hinge-mounted to a backing board and matted with a window cut slightly smaller than the paper, which will cover a little of the painted edges, or floated to show the full sheet. Check a stock mat’s actual opening before choosing it. It would hold its own in a gallery wall.

It ships flat in a sleeve with a backing board, tracked and insured. If you’re local, I’m happy to hand it to you at the Natick Farmers Market or Open Studios at no charge.