Red

This painting was born of a color harmony that's been pulling on me for years. It's a particular bright red and powder blue. I've mostly scratched at it by purchasing red and blue clothes and enjoying the combination. I was rearranging some things in my studio when I noticed this red cup and mint green/turquoise panel had a very similar harmony. It's shifted over a bit in the color space. The red is leaning blue and is not so very bright and the panel leans green and is not so very saturated. But it felt the same. Like the same song in a different key. So I set to work making a composition out of those two elements. Really, I was so excited. Anything that satisfies this red/blue harmony haunting me is a gift. The original roses were a Valentines Day gesture from my husband. They were unusually deep in color and spoke well to the glass cup. I had to keep buying roses as they died while I developed the layers. Not a problem as I rather enjoyed shifting the composition of the flowers over time and letting the changes build character and depth to the surface. I called the painting Red to honor the origin of inspiration as a color idea. But now that I've written all this I realize you could just as easily say this painting was born of love and obsession. Love from my husband and obsession with a color harmony.