Floralia 2019

Mary Jane Ansell made this painting, Floralia, using oils in the 21st century. It features a woman in profile, a cascade of roses, and…wait for it…a snail! Imagine Ansell coaxing these delicate details into being, layering thin glazes of oil paint to capture the soft light on the woman’s skin and the velvety texture of the petals. There’s something so tender and slightly melancholic about the way she’s rendered the roses, as if they’re caught in a moment of fleeting beauty. The dark background makes everything feel intimate and dreamlike. I wonder if Ansell was thinking about the Old Masters when she made this. You know, those Renaissance painters who were obsessed with capturing the perfection of nature? But she's also doing her own thing, adding a touch of surrealism. It feels like a conversation across time and styles, a reminder that painting is always evolving, always finding new ways to see and feel the world.