The COVID quarantine had a significant impact on our daily lives, and while Austen initially used this time to study her previous work, uninspired by seclusion, this time of reflection quickly turned dark as the world flipped upside down. The majority of her passion and inspiration comes from her interactions with people. Under emotional tension and limited interaction, Austen started collecting flowers from neighborhood gardens and flower shops that were still open. She often pulled over on the side of the road to pick some wildflowers in order to battle the mundane days of isolation.

Austen returned home with her floral treasures and began to bring the semi-dying roses back to life as she experimented with watercolors, surrounded by candle light. After a few hours the flowers began to resemble their pre-plucked lustor. As an abstract artist, realism never suited Austen, so she then added pen and ink on top of the watercolors in a gestural flow and elegance, but also with a rough, emotional pull on the petals. This is a nod to her version of quarantine: it might not make sense but you can find beauty in it anyways. This is one of only two of her completed pieces of creative work during quarantine. It’s this rare, and valuable expression of emotion that helped her get through the tough early months of 2020. 

After several requests, Austen decided to develop high-quality prints on Arches archival paper to offer this beauty and inspiration to others and their homes. The process to get this piece from original artwork to finishing stages of limited printing is quite involved, Austen guiding each step. A high-resolution photograph is taken of the art and edited to balance the colors. Test prints are then created to verify the quality of the print. Lastly, limited edition print on Arches archival paper with deckled edges is 8 1/2” by 11” and is signed and numbered by the artist with certificate of authenticity included.

Edition of 20 Price: $175