Dance of pink phloxes. Floral painting
Bright, marvelous, as if in amazing carnival costumes, phlox flowers perform their magnificent dance. Here and there, pink, fuchsia, lilac, purple flowers flicker. One is brighter and more beautiful than the other. Framed in green with a splash of white that further enhances the irresistible riot of gorgeous flowers.
Translated from Greek, phlox means “flame” for its bright, upward, as if blazing fire, inflorescences. Although the Greek name was given to phloxes, they were brought from America in the 18th century.
According to legend, Odysseus and the sailors, descending into the underworld of Hades, held in their hands flickering torches that illuminated their path. When they got out of the dungeon, they threw torches on the ground. They sprouted and turned into phlox flowers in memory of the brave Odysseus. Only the god of love, Eros, who imperceptibly followed Odysseus, the secret guardian angel of the legendary hero, did not part with his torch. Tired of the long journey, Eros dozed off on the bank of the stream. At this time, the nymph stole the torch and extinguished it in the spring waters, which immediately boiled, lit up, and acquired a magical gift to heal the sick and weak people.
The floral artwork was made in watercolour on fine art paper using a two-layer painting technique on wet, size 19×28 in. 2020
