'Tulips' are today's painting.-----Grace, elegance, and perfect love.

'Tulips.' ----acrylic and oil pastel on boxed stretched canvas----60x60 cms.

Tulips are not my favourite flowers, sometimes in rows

 in a garden they seem too orderly, too exact and precise,

yet when they open out in full bloom I find them really  beautiful.

They are very satisfying to paint though.There is something

 about their uncluttered simplicity of line and form

that inspires me. Often that soft sheen, that semi-translucent

lustre when caught in the sunlight,is captivating .

The clear colours  a delight too, ranging from the

purest white to the passionate depth of crimson.

Sometimes I see each one as a chalice, the black, velvety

depth sheltering the essence - that individual quality

that each flower holds.

The symbolism is fitting too; grace, elegance, and perfect love.

But then all flowers are smbolic in their own uniqueness,-and all

have a beauty that belongs entirely to them.---What would life be without them?

Mo.

'The temple bell stops, but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.'

Basho.