I've always loved the Greek mythological tale of Narcissus whom daffodils are of course named after. We all welcome the sight of these golden, bright beauties which seem to pop up out of nowhere after a long winter-of course our heads all turn to admire. Narcissus was a very beautiful young man, and many fell in love with him. However, he only showed them disdain and contempt.
One day, while he was hunting in the woods, the nymph Echo spotted him and immediately fell for him, revealed herself and tried to hug him. However, he rejected her. Echo, in despair, roamed around the woods for the rest of her life, until all that remained of her was an echo sound. Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and revenge, decided to punish Narcissus for his behaviour. She led him to a pool; there, the man saw his reflection in the water and fell in love with it. Although he did not realise in the beginning that it was just a reflection, when he understood it, he fell in despair that his love could not materialise and committed suicide. According to legend, he turned into the flower that bears his name, the narcissus.
It was the beauty of Narcissus which inspired me to paint and of course St David's Day. I was admiring two beautiful glass jars at my friend Alice's house and she kindly lent them to me. So here is Narcissus in one of Alice's Jars:
As you can see it was a gloomy day outside and I was so delighted and drawn to the sunny yellow in Alice's beautiful chemist's vintage jar. I will reveal the blue glass one in a future post on Instagram so do look out for it. I am quite focused with my painting at the moment as I am preparing for two upcoming exhibitions; one in May and the other in June! Watch this space to stay updated as I'd love to see you there.
Narcissus in Alice's Jar
Oil on panel
8 x 8 inches
If you read my last blog, I was truly inspired by the Cezanne exhibition at the Tate and returned with gusto to my studio to focus on form, shape and colour in my work. I am really pleased with Narcissus in Alice's Jar. A small painting but it packs a lot of punch!
These beautiful roses from M&S kept on giving. Those of you who read last week's blog will have seen my first painting. Well I had to do another as my first one sold rather quickly and as the roses were still so robust I decided to paint another. So Roses in Glass Jar will be available in one of my upcoming exhibitions. This painting, like my last, was done alla prima
and is larger than my first painting. I love the energy that is conveyed when painting using this wet on wet technique.
It has been a while since I did a studio clear out....not the most fun job in the world and I had procrastinated enough and it got to a point where I had to face the music. I hope to complete my clear out this week. But seeing my paintings clustered together like this made me feel so happy. Why? I suppose it is a good exercise as an artist to group your work together because suddenly one can see colour palettes, themes and techniques emerging. So like that first narcissus which gives us joy and comfort knowing that Spring is on it's way, we feel a reassurance and joy and that bullyish inner voice which makes us doubt ourselves is silenced...
van Gogh understood it well when he said:
"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
The same can be true about anything, not just Art.
Off to make a cuppa now and I wish I had some of these delicious looking biscuits to enjoy my cuppa with
The recipe is from one of my favourite MasterChef winners: Irini Tzortzoglou and I'd really like to try making them...possibly once I finish the studio clear out!
Happy Tuesday all!
Love,
Olga xx