Night flame of tiger lilies
A warm August night. I am drinking fragrant tea, sitting at the window in my country house. Silence, only the chirping of cicadas is heard. In the darkness, right in front of the window, luxurious tiger lilies burn with a bright flame. With a slight breeze, they seem to be genuinely alive. Large velvety, colourful red flowers, like goldfish, float in the air, smoothly rising up and down.
What a richness of tone! The petals at the tips are piercing white from the light of the lantern. Towards the flowers’ core, the color saturation increases – from cool lemon-yellow to warm yellow cadmium, smoothly turning into orange, scarlet, and then echoing with burgundy. The petals are decorated with bright dots, which give the flowers even more piquancy and festivity. The stamens are long, curly, like a long tail of goldfish.
The left and center flowers in the foreground are well-defined and contrasting. The height one on the right is slightly in the distance. It is presented in a more general way, creating a volume of space and perspective.
Tiger lilies are lit by a lamp seem to cast long tongues of flame. A hot fire is blazing, illuminating everything around.
Night fireflies rain down, shimmering in the darkness. They fly from place to place, light up brighter, then almost dim. Here and there, their stars light up and disappear again, creating a fabulous backdrop for beautiful lilies. I admire such fantastic beauty that nature gifts us!
The floral artwork has been made in watercolour on fine art paper using a two-layer painting technique on wet, size 30x22in, 2020.
