"The Clown" 2020
oil painting, inspired by the hydrangeas
Hydrangea is one of my favourite flowers, I am fascinated by their amazing colors.
I have been painting them for years, and created a few character illustrations as well.
Every year I felt like they were telling me a new thing about themselves, every year I managed to paint a different kind of painting of the same flower... The last oil painting sums up all the colors, the feelings, the characteristic I got to know about them. All the stories they have been telling me...
paintings from 2017-18, and my first character watercolor and digital illustrations. I thought her flowers are like butterflies and they could fly away any moment as I was painting them...
In 2019 I painted them a lot in the rain, and it became more melancholic, also the painting style is more splashy, it has more power in it. (But the butterfly stayed in the picture:D)
In 2020 this lovely baby become a digital illustration and iPhone-case design^^
2020 was the last summer I spent in Nagano, I knew I have to say goodbye to the hydrangeas. (by the way I found them here in Okinawa as well!! but that will be an other story^^) So the last summer I was able to depict the born and the passing of the hydrangea.
The cutie baby-hydrangeas are vivid yellow-green color, before they get their blue-purple-pink shades^^
My hydrangeas became more splashy, less detailed. I focused on the colors, and on the feelings and the atmosphere they had around them. It felt like they became moody, like they were angry at me for leaving Nagano.
My last observation was about their passing. Did you notice how the head of the hydrangeas always hanging down? They always seem to hide under their beautiful flower crowns... But after 1-2 months of summer rain, not just their colors being washed off, but they are raising their heads! As if like they were enjoying the rain washing off their colors, making them feel lighter.
But they never lose their petals.
Those butterflies never fly away.
