Table fleurie. Les fleurs joyeuses *. 2020. J.Harms. Acrylic on paper. 40x50cm.
A bouquet of happy brain chemicals for you and you and you….
* « Les fleurs joyeuses » (Joyful flowers) is a subtitle I give all the bouquets I paint.
Peonies on the grey. 2015. J.harms. 18×24 cm. Oil on canvas board.
I am lucky to count flower lovers in my family. Vases never stay empty for long around my home. I started painting flowers to ‘wash my eyes’ in between my other paintings. Simply changing my usual medium from acrylic to oil is like visiting a new place. Oil has never been my favorite medium but the colorful pigments have a quality to them that I have not found in acrylics. Every time I prepare to paint a new bouquet, I experience something akin to pure joy.
Yellow flowers. 2013. Oil on canvas. 24×30 cm. J.Harms.
Nature has always been a hard thing for me to paint. A conundrum. I love watching it, but I can’t grasp the lines, I can never get the colors to vibrate. Tamed nature is as far as I’ll go. A simple bouquet is all I can do.
