New Flower Paintings, and A Lesson From A Cherry Tree
New Flower Paintings, and A Lesson From A Cherry Tree Inspired by my recent visit to the Rose and Herb garden in Atami, Japan, I have been feeling a strong urge to paint some flowers. I sat on the sofa in my studio with a pencil and sketchbook, planning the paintings I would paint. But as I was drawing the somewhat realistic flowers on the page, it felt very wrong to me. The drawings looked like they would make a lovely wallpaper, a charming bedspread or a good fabric for a dress, not an art piece. After all, I was not at all inspired to re-create the shapes and colors of flowers, I was eager to re-create the ESSENCE or FEELINGS that I had while walking in the park in Atami, smelling the beautiful blooms, being surrounded by flower bushes that were taller than me, and feeling their energy, power and vibrancy. Flowers have such gentle and tender petals and powdery fragile stamens, yet they have such strong energy and brightness that is pure perfection. When you look at a flower or at th...
