JUST ME :: and a stack of blank pages

:: Living creatively ::

About me

This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realise it is play. The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is. I’m here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away. When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it. If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

The purest joy that Earth can give

Like the musician, the painter, the poet, and the rest, the true
lover of flowers is born, not made. And he is born to happiness
in this vale of tears, to a certain amount of the purest joy that
earth can give her children, joy that is tranquil, innocent,
uplifting, unfailing.
- Celia Thaxter, An Island Garden, 1894


Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 12" x 8"


Painting flowers has become quite a passion of mine, after spending years avoiding them. My thinking behind that: there are so many wonderful flower artists out there, excellent at capturing their beauty, how much more could I add? After trying a couple, I fell in love with it and realised that there are thousands of ways to portray the beauty of flowers, and that artists will NEVER be able to exhaust the many ways of showing off one of nature's wonders!

9 comments:

  1. I love these daisies, Maree. Paint or coffee, there is something about your daisies that lifts my heart.
    annie

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  2. Maree, I lectured a course called "Flowers in Watercolour" for most of the ninetees. You ask what more can you add? To use a pun here, it is not what you add but what you leave out. I find myself viewing your flowers again and again because they are never over-worked but always have a freshness, an immediacy, a 'moment in time' look about them. I think this is the 'something' that Annie speaks about!

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  3. I am truly so glad to hear that Annie, thank you SO much!

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  4. Aaah Marie, that is such an acute observation. Usually, when painting flowers, I REALLY would like to get heavily into some detail, which I used to do, but decided that "less is more".Thanks a lot for your lovely words, I really appreciate that!

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  5. And I'm sure that these skills you have of "treading lightly" (forgive me, I'm stuck on this phrase nowadays) will manifest themselves in your oil painting and other media too.

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  6. Aaaah, oils! I've always felt oils need a heavy hand Marie, otherwise it turns out like watercolours! I don't do many oils, too messy and takes too long to dry, that impatient streak in me!

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  7. Well, whatever you do or try, Maree, I know that we will enjoy each new adventure--the whole process.

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  8. Oh thank you Annie, that's real inspiration!

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  9. Thank you for those encouraging words Annie, really appreciate that!

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