Bougainvillea Moving forward in my bougainvillea, Soon to be done. My brush caressing the paper, human forms emerge from the petals. Their feet anchored at the core of the flower, as we humans, men and women, anchored on the ground, in nature, in our DNA, mirroring ourselves in other living organisms: limbs, spheroids, ellipses, all shaped by the same physical forces. I worked at this piece starting from a picture I took during our holiday in Fuerteventura, visiting my in-laws. The nature in Fuerteventura is stunning, rough and primitive, as if showing how it could have been to survive in Prehistory, in a hostile territory, when life was young on earth. The territory is desertic, sand and rocks, dunes and rocky hills draft a predominantly ochre landscape. The sun is shining and golden, casting its hot beams without worries. Wherever water is available, succulent plants and flowers emerge dramatically and full of life, as if they were just looking for the right spot to occupy for themselves and their descendants. The various colors of the flowers shouting a desire for survival, wrinkled petals, contracted in an effort to be nourished by the sun, the air, and the water, often not sufficient when left alone, people take good care of their flowers, emanating their rich colors, hope for the future life on the island. This is another organic painting I did for my collaboration with Spinderihallerne, a botanical painting made with organic inks. Mixing the colors means to mix nature juices. First the light tones, the fleshy onions, with their warm delicate peachy hue. Then a gentle touch of cranberries, organic colors of flesh and blood, bleeding into one another, like looking into a cell living processes. Finally coffee drops, brown warm shadows, like the shadows cast by the hilly rocks on the sun burnt island. Coffee as combustion, the cranberry juice turns blueish by oxidation, the painting is pulsing with life, the juices flow as through living tissues. From the heart of the flower, which is not technically a flower, three subtle human figures emerge, as if standing on their feet from the centre of earth. Soldiers facing the harshness of life in this desertic island? An echo of the survival of primitive humans on earth. Working with these organic ink provided a limited palette, not matching the luxurious hue of a purple bougainvillea. As the painting takes its form, its a different flower I painted than the one I have photographed. Colors are carrier of meaning, the natural purple flower has been shifted towards yellowish-peachy-brown hues, suggesting the color of human tissues and the warm color of sand. Thank you for stopping by and Merry Christmas :)
xxx Bertie
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorFreelance illustrator and painter. Archives
May 2023
Categories |