Geraniums on a wall
11″ x 8″ Acrylic on mount board

The container of choice around here is a recycled olive oil can.  Everywhere you look you will see  them along the edges of garden paths or perched atop stone walls leading their second lives as garden plant pots.  The filling of choice is the geranium followed closely by chillies and tomatoes.  Depending on the standard of the owner’s green fingers they range in quality from straggly, underwatered and underfed, sad cases to splendid, bushy specimens in the peak of condition.  It’s the cans themselves that fascinate me as in their original, pristine state they are normally highly decorated examples of mediterranean product advertising featuring bucolic landscapes, portraits, poultry, ornate patterns and obviously olives in all their forms.  After time, rust takes over and the beauty of the design slowly fades, replaced by a different kind of beauty.  A bit like their owners, come to think of it.