Torch Thistle

This one came out completely different than what I usually do. I didn’t start with symmetry or repetition, I started with a memory.

There’s a stretch off of Wildwood Road near Sister Bay where wild thistles grow tall and unruly along the roadside. One summer, late in the day, the sun hit them just right - lighting the edges in gold and casting shadows across their jagged green leaves. It stopped me in my tracks.

With Torch Thistle, I used the flow of epoxy to trace those forms deliberately: stems, spines, bloom structures. The color is turned up - orange and gold layered like fire - but the shape still nods to the stubborn beauty of native plants.