A dry summer and mild autumn meant this Tithonia grew tall very late in the year and only flowered in October, just as the Birch trees were turning gold. By chance they grew together and I loved the celebratory combination of clear orange with yellow-gold. First I painted them in the garden, but the storms of autumn felled the Tithonia and, seeing this as fate, I brought the magnificent fifteen foot high plant to the studio so I could work from the flowers. Now, as the days are cooling and shortening I feel myself bathed in light and warmth as I look at the collage.
