Bloeiende tak van een eucalyptus 1872 - 1950

Here is a sprig of eucalyptus painted with watercolor on paper by Barbara Elisabeth van Houten. I can imagine her, brush in hand, carefully building the forms of the leaves and flowers. See how she's laid down these flowing marks, one after the other? Each of these gestures must have been a new investigation. I can imagine what she must have been thinking: how to render those leaves, which way do they turn, which colors to use… See how she’s made the leaves both flat and round. When I look at this, I think of other botanical drawings and paintings, how artists are in an ongoing conversation, exchanging ideas across time. Each artist’s vision builds upon what came before. Painting is like a form of embodied expression, which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty. There are so many ways to interpret the world around us!