Jasmine 1915

Charles Rennie Mackintosh made this drawing of Jasmine with pencil and watercolor. It looks like he was trying to get at the essence of this flower, its sort of quiet exuberance. See how he's using these delicate lines to give the plant its structure and then adding washes of color. I imagine Mackintosh there in his studio, or maybe even outside, really studying this little plant, trying to capture what makes it special. It feels like he wanted to show us not just what the jasmine looks like, but how it feels to really see it. It reminds me a bit of some of the botanical drawings of artists like Agnes Martin; you can almost feel the artist thinking. Mackintosh is reminding us that there are endless ways to see the world. We can all learn from each other, across time, each adding our own unique perspective to the ongoing conversation.