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!
I love these daisies, Maree. Paint or coffee, there is something about your daisies that lifts my heart.
ReplyDeleteannie
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!
ReplyDeleteI am truly so glad to hear that Annie, thank you SO much!
ReplyDeleteAaah 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!
ReplyDeleteAnd 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.
ReplyDeleteAaaah, 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!
ReplyDeleteWell, whatever you do or try, Maree, I know that we will enjoy each new adventure--the whole process.
ReplyDeleteOh thank you Annie, that's real inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThank you for those encouraging words Annie, really appreciate that!
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