Painting Flowers

My latest watercolour.  One of two that completed the very first commission I had ever been asked to do.  I could have been really lost in the stress of having it turn out right but at the same time I kept telling myself,  "It is only flowers."

I love painting flowers, I've discovered.  They are not perfect and yet their beauty is undeniable.  They are the natural colour in an otherwise green landscape.  Each one an original.  Each one destined to fade and wilt and fall.

It's so easy to get lost in the details.  Slight bends at the tips of the petals.  Deep dark shadows at their core.  The reflections and unexpected pieces that are so easily overlooked as I walk past.  In passing, the big picture dims the intricacy of each bud but sitting in stillness, it's easy to get lost...  To forget that they exist together.  

I like this picture.  As I moved through it, I liked the impression of the passing of time.  Some faded, some brilliant, some buds whose beauty was yet to be seen.  

Life.  Summarized nicely in this one shot.

I'm happy to have had the time to see it. 

Summer Blush (J.Lee, 2013)